“The International Criminal Court stands as a working model of international criminal justice in terms of which an international criminal forum applies rules of international law, is staffed by independent
prosecutors and judges, and holds persons individually responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, after allowing them a fair trial. It is the appropriate pinnacle of international criminal justice. Today,
international criminal law has truly come of age. The moral imperative of international criminal law – of holding individuals accountable under the world’s highest law for the world’s worst crimes – means that international law can no longer be seen as a
law that applies only between states. It is today a law that binds soldiers, civilians, and leaders. And it is a law that protects individuals from genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, if only through the
promise that perpetrators of such crimes will not go unpunished. Its importance for Africa can no longer be denied.”
