What could possibly go wrong?
(Reuters)Â The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Thursday it would start focusing on crimes linked to environmental destruction, the illegal exploitation of natural resources and unlawful dispossession of land in a move hailed by land rights activists.
Company executives or politicians could now be held responsible under international law for illegal land deals which violently displace residents following the shift, campaigners and lawyers said. (snip)
Environmental crimes will now be considered in investigations of cases that fall within the ICC’s existing remit, according to Global Diligence LLP, a London-based human rights law firm said in a statement.
Campaigners and human rights lawyers said the move reflects increasing global recognition of the severity of environmental crimes. It also allows victims to seek justice through the international criminal justice system if their complaints are not heard in national courts.
What’s the old saying about the road to Hell being paved with good intentions? You can certainly see the good uses of this, such as
The shift comes ahead of a decision by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on whether to investigate a case filed by human rights lawyers in 2014 accusing Cambodian officials and businessmen of engaging in illegal land dispossession.
Global Diligence LLP, the firm representing the Cambodian plantiffs, said the ICC’s policy shift opens the door for the case to be investigated by the court.
Getting beyond the notion of investing more and more power over what goes on in nations to international weenies who are outside any chain of command, you can see them jumping into local and national issues whenever the mood strikes them. Then continuing to expand their investigations more and more into business practices, how people use their own land, how nations use their land. Will they be responsive to the Cult of Climastrology, going after fossil fuels companies and such? The problem here is that there are no limits, nor any true controls on their self created mandate.
But, that’s rather the point of the Progressive movement. Unchecked power.
