| dc.description.abstract | Since the rise of the state, war and human conflict have been part of the societal establishment. It is estimated that 14,500 war have been fought since 4th century BC between 3500 BC. Over four billion lives are estimated to have been lost. In all that time, it is said that the world has only had an aggregate 300 years of peace. The development of states is associated with wars and gross acts of human cruelty. For a long time, nothing was done to punish the perpetrators of such cruelty. It was after the first World War that an attempt was made by the victorious nations, more specifically Britain, to judge and punish those who were deemed highly responsible for grave atrocities of war. A commission was set up for that purpose and it recommended the prosecution of high ranking officers of the major Central Powers. Under the Treaty of Versailles, 1919, the Germany government accepted the right of the victorious powers to try individuals accused of crimes against the laws and customs of war including the Kaiser. The Netherlands refused to hand over the Kaiser and only a few trials were held before Germany courts in Leipzig with, at best, mixed results. Germany was not weakened or pacified by the Versailles Treaty. Rather, its terms promoted rapid nationalism than in a few years, it was able to rebuild and fight another devastating war. The events in the World Wars greatly influenced developments in international humanitarian law. Whereas Europeans had previously carried out massive extinctions of lives in other parts of the world, the fact that massive extinction of life was now happening in Europe necessitated action. The Nuremberg trials therefore came up as a push for self-preservation after the war. The gross atrocities committed by the Nazi’s had to be punished. Measures had to be taken to ensure that such a war would not be allowed to happen again. Trials were held in Nuremberg and Tokyo in the Far East to punish individuals culpable in the commission of gross atrocities. These trials have often been criticized for being an embodiment of victors’ justice. It is acknowledged however, that they greatly influenced the development of modern international criminal law. Following the events of the second World War, there were debates and steps taken towards the establishment of a permanent international criminal court. These efforts were amplified by the crises in the Balkans and Rwanda in the early 1990s that prompted the UNSC to from ad hoc tribunals to try individuals complicit in human violations committed in those areas. After these developments, there was rapid progress in preparation of the draft statute on the establishment of an international criminal court. This draft was discussed and adopted by 120 states at a conference in Rome on the 17th day of 1998. The court commenced its operations on 1st July 2002. | en_US |
