Aga Khan Mzizima Secondary School 1

Masoomali Fatehkia 10B

THE ROLE OF THE TRIBUNAL IN PROMOTING

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

For many centuries, international law was mostly considered as a law concerning the
relations of sovereign states. But after world war two it became clearer that certain states
did not protect the rights of their individuals. Therefore the international law became more
concerned with protecting the rights of individual people.

Tribunals are groups of people who are appointed to give judgements on any particular
matter. Examples of these tribunals are the Tokyo tribunal-one of the earliest tribunals to
take action on the international justice- the Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia’s tribunals
which were created by the UN.

Justice is the act of treating everybody equally and giving them equal rights. When it comes
to international justice, it is to punish people accused of violating human rights, and ensure
that they do not escape. International justice is when there is a corporation between
countries all over the world.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the international judicial body which ensures
international justice. The ICC punishes those violating human rights, in case the countries
are unable to or do not want to take action.

Impunity is to be free or exempted from being punished. Impunity comes from the Latin
word impunitas “the absence of punishment”. It is caused due to the government’s refusal
to prosecute predators, corruption and giving immunity to the government officials.
Impunity is harmful and damaging as the victims will not get to be treated with justice and
will continue to suffer.

Tribunals can promote international justice in many ways. One way is to prosecute
predators in the domestic courts. This can be very beneficial as the survivors of the crime
and other people can see that justice is being carried out. The victims, too, can be redeemed
and will be present for the proceedings.

Another way can be to punish perpetrators irrespective of their official status. Keeping the
officials immune from consequences of breaking international human rights (impunity) is
one of the causes of injustices.

Survivors often face great difficulties in obtaining justice, especially when the abuses are
committed by agents or officials. The perpetrators, therefore, remain in power and it takes
years before the survivors are able to bring the perpetrators to justice. Amnesty
 Aga Khan Mzizima Secondary School 2
Masoomali Fatehkia 10B

International believes that survivors have a right to pursue justice for as long as needed to
obtain a remedy.

Reconciliation is to bring two different parties or groups of people with conflicting ideas into
agreement. The tribunal has a great role to bring in national reconciliation between
opposing forces in a country. By following criminals and punishing perpetrators, tribunals
help avoid anti-humanitarian acts taking place by opposing forces.

The tribunals therefore, have a great part in promoting international justice. But it’s also
important for governments to take part and reinforce the international laws.