Volume 5, Issue 2, 2024, pp. 67-80

ABSTRACT: The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established with the noble objective of bringing the most heinous perpetrators of crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, to justice. However, the ICC has encountered numerous challenges since its inception, leading to perceptions of inefficiency. This paper aims to explore the multifaceted reasons behind the ICC’s perceived inefficiency, including financial constraints, political pressures, geographical limitations, and cultural factors. One significant limitation of the ICC is its restricted jurisdiction when dealing with accused individuals from non-member countries, despite having over 120 parties to the Rome Statute. These limitations have impeded the ICC’s ability to effectively carry out its mandate and have raised doubts about its efficacy and value. This paper delves into various factors contributing to the ICC’s inefficiency, including its funding mechanisms, external interferences, the process of evidence collection, and the impact of geographic and cultural differences on its efficiency. Furthermore, it examines notable case studies of delays in ICC proceedings, highlighting challenges encountered in prosecuting individuals such as Omar al-Bashir, Uhuru Kenyatta, Muammar Gaddafi, and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. To provide context, a comparative analysis is conducted with other international criminal tribunals, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), to evaluate the ICC’s efficiency. Finally, this paper proposes strategies for enhancing the ICC’s operations and increasing its efficiency. By addressing these issues comprehensively, this research aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of the ICC’s inefficiency while exploring potential avenues for improving its ability to effectively fulfill its mandate.