All roads to global justice lead to the Rome Statute

Getting justice: ICC members Australia and the Netherlands have started talks with Russia over its alleged responsibility for the downing of MH17 over Ukraine, which killed 298 people. — AP

THE government should have been celebrated for its decision to accede to the Rome Statute which would have made Malaysia a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Instead, it was disappointingly pressured to reject an important treaty of international law that would have sent a powerful statement on Malaysia’s foreign policy.

The Rome Statute created the ICC, the world’s first permanent international criminal court with jurisdiction to try individuals for the gravest crimes under international law, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crime of aggression, committed in state party territories or by their nationals. The Rome Statute was adopted on 17 July 1998 by 120 States and entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of January 2018, 123 States are parties to the Rome Statute.