Looking at the Existence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) After 26 Years of the Rome Statute: A Critical Analysis of Human Rights Enforcement in Indonesia

Abstract

At the age of 26, the existence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) established under the 1998 Rome Statute continues to be in the spotlight, especially regarding its jurisdiction over crimes of gross human rights violations. This article specifically examines the existence of the ICC in relation to the enforcement of Human Rights (HAM) in Indonesia. Although the ICC has become a global judicial instrument, Indonesia has not ratified the Rome Statute until now. This rejection is based on the argument of national legal sovereignty, where Indonesia already has a Human Rights Court mechanism through Law No. 39 of 1999 and Law No. 26 of 2000. Through the normative juridical method, this journal analyzes the relationship between the national legal instrument and the complementarity principle adopted by the ICC. The results of the study show that the complementary principle allows the ICC to take over jurisdiction if a country is deemed unwilling or unable to seriously prosecute perpetrators of serious human rights crimes. Although Indonesia has a domestic legal framework, there are significant legal gaps, such as the reduction of material jurisdiction (excluding war crimes and aggression), weak standards of command responsibility, and the magnitude of political intervention in the establishment of the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court. This loophole has the potential to be interpreted by the international community as the inability or unwillingness of the national legal system. Therefore, harmonization of national law with the standards of the Rome Statute and ratification is an essential strategic step to protect Indonesia's legal sovereignty from potential future ICC intervention.