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Comparative Study | Law | Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026 | Pages: 796 - 807 | Portugal
International Criminal Justice in Crisis: Selectivity, Universal Jurisdiction, and Compliance Challenges in the Conflicts of Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and the Philippines
Abstract: In 2026, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is going through its busiest period of simultaneous activity, with active investigations in Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, and the Philippines, and at the same time the most severe legitimacy crisis since its creation in 2002. This article examines, from the standpoint of the doctrine of universal jurisdiction and the jurisdictional and complementarity regime of the Rome Statute, four situations that illustrate both the limits and the possibilities of the international criminal justice system: the pursuit of the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the arrest warrants against Israeli officials over the war in Gaza, Sudan's prolonged non-compliance with Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005), and the successful surrender of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in 2025. Using a comparative case study method, supplemented by an analysis of universal jurisdiction at the domestic level in Spain, Argentina, and Germany, the article argues that the Court's effectiveness is strongly conditioned by extra-legal variables, including state cooperation, political pressure, internal rivalries, and media attention, which together produce a pattern of selectivity that is difficult to reconcile with the principle of equality before the law underpinning international criminal law. The work includes a quantitative illustration of the growth of the Rome Statute's States Parties, the geographic distribution of the situations investigated, and the duration of de facto impunity.
Keywords: International Criminal Court, universal jurisdiction, complementarity, crime of aggression, judicial selectivity, Ukraine, Gaza, Darfur, Philippines
How to Cite?: Dr. Maria Florencia Carballo Nievas, "International Criminal Justice in Crisis: Selectivity, Universal Jurisdiction, and Compliance Challenges in the Conflicts of Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and the Philippines", Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 796-807, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26707015158, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26707015158