What’s the point of international law? | Start Here

From the Gaza war to Ukraine – the role of international law has been under intense scrutiny recently. What exactly is international law? How does it work? And what’s the point of it, if so often it doesn’t seem to lead to the accountability and justice that many people want? Sandra Gathmann takes #AJStartHere to The Hague – the home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC) – to explain. Chapters: 00:56 - What is international law? 02:18 - Why international law is so complicated 03:49 - How the International Court of Justice (ICJ) works 06:22 - Why is it so hard to enforce international law? 07:01 - Why so much of international law comes down to politics 10:24 - How the International Criminal Court (ICC) works 11:34 - Criticisms of the ICC 12:34 - The significance of ICC’s arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin 13:02 - How the ICC’s jurisdiction works 14:29 - Why international law often takes time This episode features: Phoebe Okowa Professor of Public International Law, Queen Mary University of London UN International Law Commission Member Devika Hovell Associate Professor of Public International Law, London School of Economics Agnès Callamard Secretary General, Amnesty International Molly Quell Senior Legal Correspondent, Courthouse News Service, The Hague Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf Member of the International Court of Justice Fadi El Abdallah ICC Spokesperson You can find all Start Here episodes here: https://bit.ly/3o0BEIW Subscribe Al Jazeera so you don’t miss future episodes: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow Sandra Gathmann on Instagram and X: @SandraGathmann And let us know in the comments if there’s a topic you find confusing and would like Start Here to cover ⤵️ #WarCrimes #ICJ #InternationalCourtOfJustice #ICC #InternationalCriminalCourt #TheHague #Genocide #War #Conflict #InternationalLaw #ICCArrestWarrants #ICJArrestWarrants #Israel #Palestine #Gaza #GazaWar #IsraelWarCrimes #BenjaminNetanyahu #Netanyahu #UkraineWar #RussiaUkraineWar #VladimirPutin #Putin #Sudan #SudanWar #RSF #AlJazeeraEnglish