The International Criminal Court was created to hold the world’s worst criminals accountable when national courts fail. In theory, it stands above politics and power. In practice, its record raises uncomfortable questions. Powerful nations often remain beyond its reach, while leaders from weaker or developing states face prosecution far more frequently.
Is the ICC a necessary safeguard against impunity—or a system of justice applied unevenly, shaped by geopolitics rather than principle? If international law cannot be enforced equally, does granting the ICC authority strengthen global justice… or undermine the very idea of fairness it claims to defend?