THE CASE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL COURT FOR TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES

Abstract

Transnational crimes have increased significantly in scale, complexity and geographical reach, frequently transcending national borders and creating substantial challenges for the effective exercise of criminal jurisdiction. The cross-border nature raises important questions concerning jurisdiction, prosecution and the capacity of individual states to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice. These challenges have generated proposals for the establishment or expansion of international judicial mechanisms to address transnational crimes. However, attempts to extend the jurisdiction of existing international criminal institutions, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC), have faced significant opposition due to definitional uncertainties, concerns regarding institutional legitimacy, limited enforcement mechanisms and the risk of overwhelming international courts that are already constrained. The question this paper aims to consider therefore is: whether it is necessary for yet another court to come into being in view of the existing International Criminal Court and other mechanisms?In so doing, this study examines whether transnational crimes should fall within the jurisdiction of an international criminal court and evaluates the suitability of existing international judicial mechanisms in addressing such crimes. The study adopts doctrinal and analytical methodologies to examine relevant legal principles, international instruments, judicial decisions and scholarly literature. The study contributes to scholarship by critically interrogating the increasingly fluid distinction between transnational crimes and core international crimes and by advancing a regional judicial model as a more practical alternative to expanding the jurisdiction of existing international criminal courts. The study finds that, although transnational crimes may intersect with crimes against humanity, the legitimacy, jurisdictional and enforcement challenges confronting international criminal courts make further expansion problematic. It therefore recommends the establishment of a regional criminal court, in each region, with clearly defined jurisdiction and effective mechanisms for enforcing its judgments, thereby promoting credible, accessible and effective justice for transnational crimes.