A group of the world’s leading bar associations have urged governments to protect international courts and judicial independence amid calls for the US to lift sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A joint statement by eight international, regional and national bar associations – published by the International Bar Association (IBA) on 20 October – called for resolving disputes through legal and institutional processes and for states to refrain from coercive measures against judges, prosecutors, lawyers and court officials.
Its signatories include the American Bar Association, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, the IBA, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific, the Pan African Lawyers Union, the Union Iberoamericana de Colegios y Agrupaciones de Abogados and the UIA, the International Association of Lawyers.
The organisations warned that measures targeting judicial institutions or senior lawyers for performing their duties threatened “the integrity of international justice itself”.
“International courts must be able to carry out their judicial functions independently, impartially and without intimidation or interference,” they said.
The statement also calls on states to cooperate with international courts in good faith and provide the conditions necessary for them to fulfil their mandates.
IBA president Claudio Visco said: “This statement is both powerful and profoundly timely. Never have the rule of law, international law and the global order faced such intense pressure.”
He added: “As I emphasised at the opening of the IBA Annual Conference in Copenhagen, when lawyers, bar associations and law societies from around the world stand united, our collective voice cannot be ignored. Sending a clear, unwavering message to those who act irresponsibly and defy international norms is not just our duty; it is the very core of the legal profession’s mission and commitment.”
The appeal follows US sanctions imposed on the ICC itself on 9 October, extending earlier measures against individual judges and officials. The IBA previously warned that sanctions could disrupt investigations, trials, witness protection, reparations and detention arrangements.
Separately, the European Young Bar Association, which recently held its autumn meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, issued a statement condemning the sanctions and warning of risks to the ICC’s financial and IT services and cooperation with external partners, having previously supported the CCBE and IBA in championing the rule of law at its summer meeting in Turin, Italy.
It said: “As a society, we should ensure the independence of courts and those who serve them. Any attempt to limit or even influence the work of the ICC must be considered as a direct attack on the core values of our democratic society and the rule of law.”
It also urged Washington “to cease all announced sanctions and let the ICC do its work”.
The UK, along with France, Germany and Canada, was among the governments opposing the sanctions. Former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt had earlier warned at the IBA’s Annual Conference in Copenhagen that sanctions could drastically affect the court’s ability to function.
The appeals follow publication of a book on modern international justice by IBA executive director Mark Ellis and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and ambassador David Scheffer, funded by the IBA’s special projects fund.
Ellis said: “The story of modern international justice is ultimately a story of law being tested, interpreted and developed in response to some of humanity’s gravest crimes.”
He added: “By connecting the jurisprudence with the human experiences behind the cases, we hope to deepen understanding of what international justice has achieved and what must be sustained for the future.”
Scheffer said: “Over the past three decades, international courts and tribunals have helped define the law governing atrocity crimes, strengthen the principle of individual accountability and advance the protection of fundamental rights.”
The Global Legal Post, a media partner of the International Bar Association, published IBA Daily News, its conference magazine, at the annual conference in Copenhagen earlier this month. The next annual conference will be held in Singapore in November 2027.
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