There was a time when taking up arms as a means of resolving international disputes was commonplace in the world. More recently, the international community of states has attempted to restrict armed conflicts to certain defined circumstances only; yet, acts of aggression still seem to prevail in this day and age. While the Security Council of the United Nations has been charged with a primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, efforts to entrust the International Criminal Court (ICC) with a competence to prosecute persons in a position of authority responsible for the planning, preparation, initiation or execution of acts of aggression has thus far not been finalized. Even if the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC to prosecute crimes of aggression were to become a reality--a matter that will be reconsidered in 2017 at the earliest--governments will be afforded the sovereign power to exclude the exercise of jurisdiction for the crime of aggression committed by its national or on its territory, either by not ratifying the ICC Statute or by depositing a declaration to that effect with the Registrar of the ICC.

Johan D. van der Vyver, IT Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Emory University, and an Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Private Law of the University of Pretoria. He teaches international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights, and international criminal law.