Reforming the ICC
Current reform proposals and the future direction of international criminal justice.
The Reform Agenda
The ICC faces calls for reform from many directions. The 2020 Independent Expert Review, commissioned by the Assembly of States Parties, examined the Court in depth and identified organizational dysfunction, uneven investigation quality, and a need for clearer strategic prioritization. Its recommendations were largely internal: strengthen the Office of the Prosecutor's investigative capacity, improve case selection, shorten trials, and repair a strained workplace culture.
External reform proposals are more ambitious and more contested. Expanding the ICC's subject-matter jurisdiction to cover crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking, or environmental destruction has been floated repeatedly but runs into the same political obstacles that made the original Rome negotiations so difficult. Truly universal jurisdiction, allowing prosecution regardless of territory or nationality, would close the membership gap but would never be accepted by non-member states. Others propose tightening how complementarity works, so that states must demonstrate genuine judicial capacity to keep the benefit of handling cases themselves.
