The UN Security Council’s Practice of Referring Situations and its Impact on the Application of Criminal Justice

Abstract The issue of the UN Security Council’s practice of referring situations to the International Criminal Court and its impact on the application of criminal justice is of particular importance, as the provisions of the Rome Statute grant the Security Council effective authority in the work of the International Criminal Court; by granting the council the authority to refer to the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 13, paragraph (b) of the Statute of the Court, in view of the role of the Council in maintaining international peace and security in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. Accordingly, this study clearly revealed that the Security Council adopted a policy of double standards in regard to international events, which caused a lack of credibility and integrity of the International Criminal Court. Keywords: Practice of referring situations, UN Security Council, Criminal justice, International Criminal Court.