The historical birth of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was made possible by the establishment of a compromise that sought to balance the rights of the individual and the rights of the state, a device that spared state interests while assigning to the Court very ambitious targets in the fight against impunity.
This compromise has given the Court a rather special structure, since it is both an international organization born of a treaty between states, and a court that has supranational powers. It is a kind of institutional innovation, half way between two visions of international relations, state-centered and transnational.
States are indeed central players in proceedings before the Court, which is highly dependent on them and must constantly deal with the political sphere to be effective and / or legitimate, claim to universality and yet adapt to the diversity of political situations around the world, These are challenges which draw on its way a number of obstacles and risks.
In theoretical terms, my approach is a sociological one. It wishes to study not the ability of the organization to meet its stated objectives, but its willingness to be an autonomous actor, to perform totally new functions within the international arena and to renew international politics.
Measuring the autonomy of the Court, focusing solely on its decision-making powers and its operational expertise, runs the risk of a comparison with the capacity for action of the states, which would necessarily place the Court at a disadvantage.
Therefore, it is rather to see whether, in areas where it has autonomous powers, the Court is able to fundamentally change the traditional diplomatic practices by opening up new ranges for international action.
My question is therefore as follows : through the ICC, does the institutionalization of international criminal justice affect the conduct of state foreign policy? Can it be seen as a new standard and a new practice of foreign policy? Is it an agent of change in the conduct of this policy, particularly with regard to conflict management?
The chosen research field is the relationship and interaction between the ICC and two of its State Parties, France and United Kingdom, in the context of the investigations opened by the Court since 2003. I intend to present to the workshop my last findings about France and my four key assumptions about international criminal justice as :
- a new standard of speech
- a building practice and an evolving foreign policy doctrine
- a "parallel power market" for middle powers
- a norm which can works as a goal, an instrument or a constraint
