Universal jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the US national interest: An issue of incompatibility

On July 17, 1998, one hundred and twenty countries adopted a treaty in Rome to establish a permanent International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.1 This treaty is the culmination of decades of advocacy by leading human rights advocates around the world to establish an international forum or mechanism by which nations can finally bring to justice individuals that engage in atrocities against humanity.2 Inspired, inter alia, by the Nuremberg trials, and the tribunals on war crimes for the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, the treaty to create this court is the product of the proceedings at the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, or simply known as the “Rome Conference.”3 The beneficial attributes of such permanent legal institution are undeniable, but to date, several countries, including the United States, although signatories to the treaty, are reluctant to ratify on the grounds of constitutional incompatibility, or, in the case of the United States, adverse to national interest.