Sovereignty on International Trial: Exploring State Discourses Challenging the International Criminal Court’s Authority
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65339/ijsair.V2.I2.516Keywords:
Sovereignty, International Criminal Court, State Resistance, International Justice, Rome Statute, and Critical Discourse AnalysisAbstract
The concept of sovereignty has long served as one of the foundational principles of international relations and international law, emphasizing the authority of states over their internal affairs free from external interference. However, the emergence of international accountability mechanisms, particularly the International Criminal Court, has challenged the traditional understanding of state sovereignty by asserting jurisdiction over grave international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. This study examines the legal and political discourses employed by states to justify cooperation with or resistance to the authority of the ICC, with particular focus on withdrawn or non-cooperative states such as the Philippines, Burundi, and Hungary. Using a qualitative research design through document review analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study analyzes official government statements, legal documents, policy papers, ICC communications, and scholarly literature to identify recurring narratives and sovereignty-based justifications used against international criminal accountability. The findings reveal that withdrawn states commonly frame ICC intervention as an infringement upon domestic jurisdiction, political independence, and national sovereignty. These states utilize sovereignty discourse as both a legal defense and a political strategy to legitimize withdrawal, resist external scrutiny, and preserve domestic authority. The study further demonstrates that the ICC’s reliance on state cooperation creates structural vulnerabilities that limit its enforcement capacity and intensify tensions between international justice and state autonomy. Ultimately, the research concludes that sovereignty remains a powerful and evolving political construct that significantly shapes state behavior toward international legal institutions, highlighting the continuing struggle between national independence and global accountability in contemporary international relations.
References
Acharya, A. (2022). Constructing global order: Agency and change in world politics. Cambridge University Press.
Bosco, D. (2022). Rough justice: The International Criminal Court in a world of power politics (Updated ed.). Oxford University Press.
Bowen, G. A. (2021). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 21(2), 27–40.
Branch, A. (2021). Displacing human rights: War and intervention in Northern Uganda. Oxford University Press.
Broomhall, B. (2020). International justice and the International Criminal Court: Between sovereignty and the rule of law. Oxford University Press.
Cassese, A. (2021). International criminal law (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Clarke, K. M. (2024). Affective justice: The International Criminal Court and the Pan-Africanist pushback (2nd ed.). Duke University Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Cryer, R., Friman, H., Robinson, D., & Wilmshurst, E. (2023). An introduction to international criminal law and procedure (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Denzin, N. K. (2021). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods (4th ed.). Routledge.
Dunne, T., Kurki, M., & Smith, S. (2023). International relations theories: Discipline and diversity (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Fairclough, N. (2021). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Fairclough, N. (2023). Language and power (4th ed.). Routledge.
Glasius, M. (2021). The International Criminal Court: A global civil society achievement. Routledge.
Habermas, J. (2021). Does the constitutionalization of international law still have a chance? Constellations, 28(4), 444–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12548
Held, D. (2021). Democracy and the global order: From the modern state to cosmopolitan governance. Stanford University Press.
Hinsley, F. H. (2019). Sovereignty (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Jackson, R. (2022). Sovereignty: Evolution of an idea (2nd ed.). Polity Press.
Kersten, M. (2023). Justice in conflict: The effects of the International Criminal Court’s interventions on ending wars and building peace. Oxford University Press.
Krippendorff, K. (2022). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Krasner, S. D. (2021). Sovereignty: Organized hypocrisy (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2021). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications.
Mamdani, M. (2020). Responsibility to protect or right to punish? Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 14(1), 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502970903541721
Mégret, F. (2021). Too much of a good thing in international criminal justice? Journal of International Criminal Justice, 19(2), 361–390. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqab018
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2022). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Mills, K. (2022). International responses to mass atrocities in Africa: Responsibility to protect, prosecute, and palliate. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Nouwen, S. M. H. (2022). Complementarity in the line of fire: The catalysing effect of the International Criminal Court in Uganda and Sudan. Cambridge University Press.
Patton, M. Q. (2020). Enhancing the quality and credibility of qualitative analysis. Health Services Research, 55(2), 1189–1208.
Philpott, D. (2020). Revolutions in sovereignty: How ideas shaped modern international relations. Princeton University Press.
Real, J. C. (2023). The politics of withdrawal from the International Criminal Court: The Philippines under Duterte. Asian Politics & Policy, 15(1), 698–715.
Sassen, S. (2020). Territory, authority, rights: From medieval to global assemblages (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press.
Schabas, W. A. (2024). An introduction to the International Criminal Court (7th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Scott, J. (2020). A matter of record: Documentary sources in social research (2nd ed.). Polity Press.
United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter
Van Dijk, T. A. (2020). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 31(2), 249–283.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2022). Methods of critical discourse studies (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Yin, R. K. (2023). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (7th ed.). SAGE Publications.
