Ford: Funding the ICC for Its Third Decade

Stuart Ford (Univ. of Illinois at Chicago - Law) has posted Funding the ICC for Its Third Decade. Here's the abstract:

This paper looks at the International Criminal Court's budget at the beginning of its third decade of operation. It reviews the ICC's 2023 budget as well as a number of issues that have long-term financial implications for the court. The Assembly of State Parties agreed to a 12% increase in the ICC's budget for 2023. This is the largest percentage increase the court has received since the early years of its operations (2002-2007) and is driven by an increase in the court's workload. It is investigating new situations and trying more cases than ever and needs the resources to carry out its mandate to provide an effective forum for trying the "most serious crimes of concern to the international community."

Alongside this record budget, however, there are a number of issues that have worrying long-term financial implications for the court. The Prosecutor's decision to rely on voluntary contributions and secondments from member states is probably unsustainable in the long-term and raises the risk that the court's work will be further politicized. The ICC has delayed maintenance on its building and has millions of Euros of backlogged maintenance requirements, yet the Assembly of State Parties was unable to agree on a solution. Finally, and most worryingly, the Court has a serious problem getting member states to pay their contributions. The ICC is now owed more than 44 million Euros in past-due contributions and risks running out of money in 2023. This could cause a complete shutdown of the court and the problem only gets worse every year as the amount in arrears grows.