Non-Permanent Members of the Security Council and International Criminal Justice: A Proposal for Revitalization

Through the establishment of the ad hoc international criminal tribunals, the referral of cases to the ICC, and its role in establishing further pertinent international or internationalized jurisdictional instances, the Security Council was among the first supporters of contemporary international criminal justice. For reasons emanating from both within and outside the Security Council, this support has progressively decreased to the point that international criminal justice has almost become a taboo topic. However, this institutional uneasiness does not eliminate the need to fight impunity for international crimes. As was recently proposed by one of the elected members, a revitalization of the Security Council’s role on this issue could and should come from within.