Ambiguities and Lacunae : The International Criminal Court Ten Years on

The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was a major step towards the realization of the old dream of universal and lasting, if not perpetual, peace. However, initial enthusiasm has waned and has been replaced with disenchantment as the ambiguities and lacunae in the Rome Statute become more and more visible. Ambiguities arise in the relationship between the legal and political underpinnings of the ICC because the Court is weakened by policies that remain dominated by a sovereign model, despite operating principally within a universalist legal framework. In addition to these ambiguities, international criminal justice is destabilized in the relationship between the legal and economic underpinnings of the ICC by lacunae in the Rome Statute concerning the responsibility of private economic entities, with international criminal law lagging behind an already fully globalized economy. In order to effectively prevent impunity for those most responsible for international crimes, the ambiguities in the Rome Statute need to be clarified and its lacunae filled.