Universal jurisdiction and the International Court of Justice: a comment on the Congo cases

Abstract

Universal jurisdiction relates to unprecedented developments which occurred in international law over the last decades, especially since the creation of the United Nations. Universal jurisdiction is linked with the emergence of international human rights law and criminal law and unfortunately conflicts with traditional international law principles such as equality among states and state sovereignty. International lawyers gave it renewed attention in the aftermath of the Pinochet case. However, the International Court of Justice was still to pronounce on its legality. The DRC case provided the first test but as some uncertainty remained, Africa in the Congo case returned to the World Court to help it dispose of the matter, making yet another contribution to the development of international law. The Congo case is still pending. This article discusses universal jurisdiction and sovereign immunity briefly. Against the backdrop of the DRC and the Congo cases, the author reflects on the prospects for universal jurisdiction. He contends that the ICJ will remain primarily a court for states and finally urges that the combat that culminated in the establishment of the International Criminal Court should continue to mark a new era for human and peoples’ rights in international law in this new century.