ABSTRACT
The idea of universal justice ensuring that ‘no ruler, no junta and no army anywhere can abuse human rights with impunity’ (Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General: see https://www.un.org/law/icc/general/overview.htm) has inspired the creation of the International Criminal Court. The absence of an international mechanism providing for trial and punishment, thus allowing the guilty to continue their life with impunity, has, until now, left the victims and their families without any means of obtaining any retribution or compensation or even moral satisfaction. As Jose Ayala Lasso, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said: ‘A person stands a better chance of being tried and judged for killing one human being than for killing 100,000!’: ibid.
