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Experts: South Africa and others leave the ICC

Published: 18 November 2016

“Even as the International Criminal Court (ICC) suffered a blow from yet another country turning against it, Canada is continuing its fight to save it with a campaign of lobbying pressure and promised solutions.” (The Globe and Mail)

Payam Akhavan, Faculty of Law, McGill University

“The pushback against the ICC is predictable as the reality of global justice collides with the interests of political elites.There are understandable criticisms of selective, slow, and costly justice, and the ICC must become a more efficient institution, engaged with the realities of countries emerging from genocide.The fundamental problem however is that the world community has not yet reached an age of maturity where it would understand and accept that eradicating impunity is in the long-term interest of all nations; the consequence of a weak and marginalized ICC is to encourage demagogical politics, terrorism, and genocide. I am confident that whatever regressive forces are saying today, the ICC will rebound back in the coming years, once the failure of leaders to take the international rule of law seriously blows up in their own hands.”— Payam Akhavan

He's meeting with the new Secretary General tomorrow in New York, so he will only be available by e-mail for interviews. Professor Akhavan teaches and researches on public international law, international dispute settlement, international criminal law, human rights and cultural pluralism. He is a founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre.
payam [dot] akhavan [at] mcgill [dot] ca (English)
 

Frédéric Mégret, Faculty of Law, McGill University

The departure of several states from the ICC is one of the greatest threats to its existence since its creation. Accusations of bias against African states have long been leveled at the Court which has struggled to reject them and is now facing a significant pullout that could compromise its future activities.”—Frédéric Mégret

He’s the Canada Research Chair in the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.
Frederic [dot] megret [at] mcgill [dot] ca (English, French)

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