UN Security Council Debates Its Relationships with the International Criminal Court

On October 17, 2012, in New York, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on “Peace and Justice with a Special Focus on the Role of the International Criminal Court”, convened by the Guatemalan Presidency of the Security Council. According to the “Concept note”,[2] the purpose of the debate – the first of its kind on the forum of the UNSC –  was “to explore how the Court, as a tool of preventive diplomacy, can assist the Council in carrying out its mandate to uphold the rule of law, maintain peace and security, and combat impunity while ensuring accountability for mass atrocities. It would also examine how the relationship between the two bodies had developed over the past decade and to consider the way forward in strengthening their linkages.”