There was no hard and fast definition of international terrorism, which makes it difficult for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring this issue into its scope, although it has been mentioned in the international treaties and statutes, but there was no specific definition for it.
ICC President Judge Philippe Kirsch - hailing from Canada, expressed these views while addressing a seminar organised by the Research Society of International Law here on Wednesday. Punjab Governor Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool (Retd) chaired the seminar.
Philippe Kirsch said that under those circumstances it was best the terrorists were tried under local judicial system in which terrorism was defined in accordance to the local environment. "Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain could not be tried by the ICC as his crimes were retrospective of ICC constitution in July 2002, hence he was being tried in the Iraqi courts," he added.
To a question, he replied the ICC only deals with crimes at individual level, including war crimes, genocide or mass killings, but it takes up such cases after the local judicial system failed to address them. He made it clear that ICC became active after receiving a complaint and it did not have the power to take suo motu action. "Moreover, there is no impunity for state leaders indulging in crime, thus they can be tried in ICC for committing crime. However, ICC can not assume jurisdiction against a state, as it falls under the International Court of justice, it deals with state crime," he added.
Philippe Kirsch informed the audience as many as 139 countries were signatory to the ICC, while response from the Islamic bloc was slow. They were working on it to increase participation from the Islamic world, he added.
He categorically denied that ICC was an instrument of United States against the world, in fact they had the jurisdiction to deal with crimes in any country, including big countries. He said they had received a number of criminal cases, including pertaining to Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, and the ICC was working on it; however, no case had so far been decided.
The ICC President pointed out if the judgement of ICC was not adhered to or implemented, they would approach the UN Security Council for readdress.
While speaking on the occasion, Punjab Governor Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool (Retd) said in order to ensure rule of law, it was essential for a society to focus on justice. He was of the view that where prevalence of rule of law was vital to maintain security, effective co-ordination between health, education, trade and development was also vital at national level. "Legal and financial experts could play a pivotal role in this connection," he added.
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