The International Criminal Court and Global Justice

According to Michael Howard (2000, p.1), war, or armed conflict between organised groups, ‘has been the universal norm in history’. Adopting one of the core themes of this collection, war is possibly the most established and indeed entrenched form of structural violence. And while there have always been taboos with respect to how wars are fought, punishment for violating these taboos remained inconsistent (when there was punishment at all) and characterised by so-called victor’s justice. Thus, the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002 represents, albeit with important limitations, a creative structural response to the challenges of long-established norms regarding the use of violence in the international realm.