ICC leaders condemn efforts to erode international legal order

The current and former heads of the ICC’s governing body say pressure on the court threatens international law, as Washington widens sanctions and retreats from multilateral institutions.

The US, which is not a member of the ICC, has strongly opposed its cases involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and past investigations involving US personnel [File: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

The current and former presidents of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) governing body have said that efforts to isolate the institution diplomatically are aimed at eroding confidence in the international legal ⁠order, as US President Donald Trump’s administration has pressured countries to isolate the ICC.

“Efforts to isolate the Court diplomatically – whether by encouraging States Parties to withdraw from the Rome Statute or urging non-States Parties to join measures ⁠intended to weaken it – are aimed at eroding not only one institution, but confidence in the international legal order itself,” Paivi Kaukoranta, the current president of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties, and seven former presidents said in a joint op-ed published on Thursday.

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In the piece that appeared on the Just Security law and policy journal’s website, they argued that the ICC represented a collective decision by sovereign states to create rules for prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The court, they stressed, is not intended to replace national justice systems.

“The ICC is a court of last resort,” the authors wrote.

They also rejected the argument that the court necessarily undermines state sovereignty, saying that countries joining international treaties and institutions are exercising sovereignty rather than surrendering it.

A poster announcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as wanted by the International Criminal Court, on October 6, 2025, in Krakow, Poland [Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

The statement comes as the Trump administration sanctioned ICC judges and officials and pressured countries to distance themselves from the court.

The US, which is not a member of the ICC, has strongly opposed its cases involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and past investigations involving US personnel.

But the current and former assembly presidents framed the dispute more broadly, warning against a world in which political power determines when international law applies.

“The choice before us is between a world based on the rule of law and one where might decides what is right,” they wrote.

They called on the ICC’s 125 member states, international and regional organisations and other supporters of international law to provide the court with political, legal and practical backing and to help governments resist pressure to weaken it. “Now is the time to strengthen the institutions that uphold international law, not dismantle them.”

A pro-Palestine protest gathers on the Main Square in Krakow, Poland, on December 21, 2024 [Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

Washington has sanctioned Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, over what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as efforts to prompt ICC action against Israeli officials.

The Trump administration has also ended US participation in the UN Human Rights Council, halted funding to UNRWA and withdrawn from UNESCO and the World Health Organization.

In January, Trump ordered the US to leave dozens more international and UN bodies, including UN Women, the UN Population Fund and the UN climate convention, saying they conflicted with US interests and sovereignty.

国际刑事法院管理机构的现任和前任负责人表示，随着华盛顿扩大制裁范围并退出多边机构，对该法院施加的压力威胁到国际法。

美国并非国际刑事法院成员国，强烈反对该法院对以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡的案件以及过去对美国人员的调查。[图片：Piroschka van de Wouw/路透社]

国际刑事法院（ICC）理事会的现任和前任主席表示，试图在外交上孤立该机构的目的是削弱人们对国际法律秩序的信心，因为美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府一直向各国施压，要求孤立国际刑事法院。

“无论是通过鼓励缔约国退出《罗马规约》，还是敦促非缔约国加入旨在削弱国际刑事法院的措施，任何试图在外交上孤立国际刑事法院的努力，其目的不仅在于削弱一个机构，还在于削弱人们对国际法律秩序本身的信心，”国际刑事法院缔约国大会现任主席帕伊维·考科兰塔和七位前任主席在周四发表的联合评论文章中表示。

国际刑事法院谴责美国制裁是对法院独立性的“公然攻击”（共4项制裁措施，此为第1项）。

美国制裁名单之二（共四项）：国际刑事法院院长兼审判律师

（共 4 题，第 3 题）：美国制裁会摧毁国际刑事法院吗？

赫格塞斯警告说，国际刑事法院可能会调查美国船只在拉丁美洲的袭击事件（共4条记录中的第4条）。

在发表于《公正安全》法律与政策期刊网站上的这篇文章中，他们指出，国际刑事法院代表了主权国家为制定惩处种族灭绝罪、危害人类罪、战争罪和侵略罪的规则而做出的集体决定。他们强调，该法院并非旨在取代各国司法系统。

“国际刑事法院是最终的司法救济机构，”作者写道。

他们还驳斥了法院必然会损害国家主权的说法，称加入国际条约和机构的国家是在行使主权，而不是放弃主权。

2025年10月6日，在波兰克拉科夫，一张海报宣布以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡被国际刑事法院通缉。[Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

此前，特朗普政府对国际刑事法院的法官和官员实施了制裁，并向各国施压，要求它们与该法院保持距离。

美国并非国际刑事法院成员国，强烈反对国际刑事法院对以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡的案件以及过去对美国人员的调查。

但现任和前任大会主席们对这场争端进行了更广泛的界定，警告人们不要让政治权力决定国际法何时适用。

他们写道：“摆在我们面前的选择是，一个基于法治的世界，和一个强权决定正义的世界。”

他们呼吁国际刑事法院的125个成员国、国际和区域组织以及其他国际法支持者向法院提供政治、法律和实际支持，并帮助各国政府抵制削弱法院的压力。“现在是加强维护国际法的机构的时候，而不是解散它们的时候。”

2024年12月21日，一场支持巴勒斯坦的抗议活动在波兰克拉科夫的主广场举行。[Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

美国对联合国巴勒斯坦被占领土问题特别报告员弗朗西斯卡·阿尔巴内塞实施了制裁，国务卿马可·卢比奥称此举是为了促使国际刑事法院对以色列官员采取行动。

特朗普政府还终止了美国参与联合国人权理事会，停止了对联合国近东救济工程处的资助，并退出了联合国教科文组织和世界卫生组织。

今年1月，特朗普下令美国退出数十个国际组织和联合国机构，包括联合国妇女署、联合国人口基金和联合国气候公约，称这些机构与美国的利益和主权相冲突。