The International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations
(The Hague, Netherlands)
16 Judges who reside here are probably the most influential on the planet. Now, there are those who criticize the ICJ (who are usually the same ones to criticize the UN), and to those people this place means nothing more than, well, whatever is equivalent to zero. But there are as many of those who praise The Hague for the achievements they have brought to the society. Establishment such as “Law of Sea” is its figurehead and is often applauded, frequently used to settle territorial disputes (South China sea, Sea of Japan, and…I forgot the name of the European sea that Netherlands and Britian fought over) and also disputes regarding other rights, such as Japan’s right to whaling, which was strongly frowned upon by Oceania nations. All these cases, where A STATE BRINGS A CASE AGAINST ANOTHER STATE, are brought to and settled at this location. 192 (I think) members of the United Nations made an oath to respect decisions of the ICJ, and to cooperate in the process of prosecuting and arresting process of those who are labeled as International War Criminals.
Why do we need the Hague? Let me give a simple example. But this requires using at least two countries. I’ll take the US and Japan as samples because I’m a citizen of both and no one can accuse me (also helps because violent relationship between the two nations are the least likely on earth, thus lacking too much in reality) as being racist. Canada may have to take part, we’ll see. Say a Japanese national enters the US soil, murders a Virginian farmer, accused of first degree man slaughter and sentenced to life, but then flees to Japan before being arrested. By national law, the US government, nor the FBI, the SS, or the CIA, has the right to enter Japanese territory and bring the suspect to a US court. They are technically required to ask the Japanese police/government to hold custody of him, and then send him to an US court. Now, the problem with this is 1. Japan can refuse, and 2. Takes too much time. I think the time factor is a bigger issue, since the justice system in the US already lacks in swiftness, which essentially deteriorates the effect of punishment (the purpose of punishment is to deter future crimes, which is the most effective when punishment is done immediately), and causes excessive mental burden to the family of victims. Either way, it becomes evident, then, that respecting national law and achieving global governance is incompatible. The Hague, through the ICJ, was established to comply with this matter.
First, it does so by establishing global standards. These rules overlook any national law. So whether a nation follows common or civil law, whether a nation is a democratic or socialistic, whether the law is based on the Quran or the Tora, they all fall under the ICJ jurisdiction and must abide with decisions made at The Hague. Of course, such duty only applies to members of the ICJ, including most nations who possess membership with the UN. Some nations, however, are members of the ICJ but not of the UN.
Oh, forgot to include Canada in the example..
Say, JAL (a corrupted Japanese airline company) sends a flight from Tokyo to Toronto with a connection at Los Angeles. Those on the plane are mostly Canadians, and some Japanese. On the way to the LAX, however, an armed terrorist group threatens the pilot and takes over control. Once the plane lands at LAX, the terrorist threatens to kill all hostages (passengers) unless the LAX airport or the US government pays 500 billion dollars to them within 30 minutes. But here is the issue. It’s a Japanese Airline company and hostages are Canadians. The US, technically, should have no interest (besides an moral one) in paying the massive bill. It’s also a key to note that at this point, neither the Canadian government nor the Japanese government has the right to send their troops (though such thing does not exist in Japan.. but that’s US’s fault as well for rewriting the Japanese constitution alkmfas;lkmfasl;kmdas;ldkjnas) to US soil without the US government giving them consent, a legal permission. In this case, however, the limited time leaves the Japanese and Canadian government powerless and reliant on the US.
But in the end, the US decides to not intervene. After all, they saw no benefit in paying 500 billion or sending in their troops. Canada and Japan is furious, but what can they do when there is no place to settle these types of “international”, across-board issues?
So this is where the ICJ comes in handy. Now there is a “place”, with set “rules”, and internationally recognized authorities, personals, or “judges”, to settle these disputes. Critics can go on listing flaws of the ICJ, but I think it’s a great establishment. Like the UN in general, the ICJ is a place to discuss and reach common-ground, and the ultimate objective is not acting as a world police (as many critics would point out). I can go on about accomplishments of the ICJ (recent example is the arrest of Mel , which was only possible because the ICJ raised awareness and reached out to member nations for cooperation), but the main point is that, with nations with different styles and beliefs, it is helpful to have a single place where all considerations and perspectives can be brought together.
Okay
What was supposed to be a nice and sweet introduction to the ICJ turned out to be a big chunk of …skinny elephants. Whatevs. Anyways, so at least I got one thing straight: I like the idea of ICJ, and I am happy to be at The Hague. Alright.
So that’s why I came to West Europe. Yeh I wanted to see the Berlin Wall and the National Jewish Museum. Of course. But those come behind my motive to come to Netherland, and particularly The Hague. It took me a while to find the building. Partly due to it’s geographical feature (it’s not in Amsterdam, and it’s not even in the main streets of the Hague, which is the city name), and also because I carried around my (3 months worth of) life around with me. I don’t remember half the things in there…I just know that I regret buying a pair of shoes in Egypt (its probably thin as a waffle by now. Waffles…yumm). From Amsterdam, give and take, it took around..6 hours to get to the ICJ. Not that it wasn’t worth it, because it was. Anything is worth it. In fact I’m glad it took me a long time because longer it takes to find it, the longer I am excited for. Longer time being excited, the higher the hope. Higher the hope, higher the expectation. Finally, higher the expectation, harder the fall….
The fall
It was all under control. When I arrived at the ICJ it was a Sunday, meaning that the court was closed. It’s cool, I’ll just wait until tomorrow, and then I can join the guided tour in the morning. Good thing I planned to stay in the Hague for two nights. I had control. I had the Hague inside my palms, and was rolling it around and playing with it until Monday morning. I even slept at a park across the street, thinking that nothing terrible can happen right next to the court that can bring any country to court (and the famous Peace Palace was on the other side). So the sun rose, and I made sure to be the first one in line when the gate opened at 10am. I told the guard that I made an appointment the day before, and I deserve to enter (not really, I was just talking like a normal tourist).
UNTIL…damn. I still can’t believe this happened. The guard tells me “We’re sorry, but the court is closed this week. The next tour is on July 11th”. WHAT? It’s bad enough that I can’t enter today after waiting for over 20 hours and sleeping at a park, but then my only option is to come back to Europe, to Netherlands, to the ICJ on my 21st birthday? No, no, no…c’mon now.
It was no use arguing. If it wasn’t the ICJ then I would of retaliated a little, but this time I was just simply devastated and speechless. Probably looked like a kid who wasn’t tall enough to go on a roller coaster. I understand his feelings now, poor kid..
I went to a nearby café and ordered coffee to calm down. To accept the reality. Then decided to check the news while I have access to the internet. That’s when I saw this news..
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Libya: ICC issues arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi
Col Gaddafi is accused of personally ordering attacks on civilians
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
The court had accused him of crimes against humanity and of ordering attacks on civilians after an uprising against him began in mid-February.
The Hague-based court also issued warrants for two of Col Gaddafi's top aides - his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the conflict.
The warrants had been requested by chief ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in May, who said the three men bore responsibility for "widespread and systematic attacks" on civilians.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said the court had evidence that Col Gaddafi had "personally ordered attacks on unarmed Libyan civilians and was behind the arrest and torture of his political opponents.
The Libyan authorities have previously said they do not recognise the court and were not concerned by the threat of a warrant.
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Yeh, that's TODAY.
At the ICJ.
I was THERE.
When the security guard told me that “the court is closed due to a special event”, this is what he meant. Obviously they can’t have tourists wandering around the building when the court is making a public announcement of an arrest warrant. So wow, I’m not sure whether to feel lucky or unlucky. I didn’t get to see inside the Hague, which was my initial aim, but I was probably the closest one to the ICJ (besides workers and guards) when they officially announced Colonel Gaddafi as an international war criminal.
Well, I’ll keep telling myself that. In the end, looking back, I did want to go inside The Hague. I can read about it, and look it up on youtube, but it just wont be the same. Especially because I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to visit The Hague again. But damn, I was there when they publicized the warrant.. But look at the bright side, if I really wanted to I can still go to the ICJ in the future (assuming it’s still there). But there’s only one Gaddafi to put on the “wanted” list, and I was there when it happened.
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