An Appraisal Of The Roles Of The United Nations Security Council In The Prosecution Of International Crimes By The International Criminal Court

The primary objective of this paper is to highlight the shortcomings of the roles played by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the prosecution of international crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Rome Statute creating the ICC grants the Council powers to initiate proceedings, defer same and obliges it to cooperate with the Court. The UNSC referrals have been inconsistent and its deferral has raised a lot of controversies which have had negative repercussions on the credibility and legitimacy of the Court. Also, the degree of cooperation provided to the Court by the UNSC has been inadequate to assist the Court to effectively prosecute those responsible for committing international crimes. This paper therefore examines the UNSC and the ICC as institutions which have the same mission, which is to maintain world peace and security. To achieve the afore mentioned mission, this paper argues for a strict application of the law and effective cooperation between the Council and the Court.