Expanding the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court: Articles by Parliamentarians for Global Action in Cooperation with HLS Advocates for Human Rights

International Criminal Law (“ICL”) has been the branch of Public International Law that saw the most impressive developments in the last 30 years. The International Law & Human Rights team at Parliamentarians for Global Action (“PGA”) joined forces with a group of students from the Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights (“Advocates”) to launch a project that identifies some of the most innovative ideas and proposals that could further contribute to the progressive development of International Criminal Law. The project’s current focus is on expanding the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction in the following areas: development of the Court’s jurisdiction on environmental crimes and human trafficking; the expansion of the Court’s personal jurisdiction to corporations; and the creation of an additional procedural avenue through a hybrid chamber.

In times of change for the ICC, this project amplifies the voices of young students and practitioners, as well as more seasoned lawyers and experts. In the words of a former student of Harvard Law School, Ben Ferencz, who became a Prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials when he was 27 years old and, years later, played a crucial role in the establishment of the ICC, the incorporation of the crime of aggression into the Rome Statute, and the activation of the Court’s jurisdiction over the same, “Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.” Like Mr. Ferencz who continues to develop ICL at the age of over 101, students and contributors to this project wish to advance international criminal justice to combat impunity in the face of atrocity crimes which pose a global threat to humankind.