A polycentric system of international criminal justice

Reconfiguring accountability in a transforming global order

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21189469
AutoresMatteo Colorio (0000-0002-9888-8655, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, autor correspondente)
Ano2026
Volume22
Fascículo3
Páginas1-18
Data de publicação2026-04-13
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of Law in Context (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1744-5523 • E-ISSN: 1744-5531
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1744552326100482
OpenAlexW7154014146
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas37

The global order is undergoing significant transformations with far-reaching implications for international criminal justice. These shifts pose an existential challenge to core crimes accountability while re-shaping its pursuit. As the liberal order recedes, the International Criminal Court (ICC) faces a crisis driven by absolute sovereignty’s reassertion, weakened multilateral governance and increasing political and coercive pressures from powerful states. Simultaneously, these developments promote decentralised accountability, fostering the emergence of a polycentric system of international criminal justice. Trends in re-nationalisation, hybridisation and regionalisation align accountability with a more pluralistic, fluid global order. In this context, the ICC is not obsolete but requires a redefined role. While no longer the apex of international criminal justice, its existence remains crucial to addressing the risks of decentralised accountability. The Court, particularly its Office of the Prosecutor, should reconfigure strategies around positive complementarity, repositioning itself as a co-ordinating hub within this polycentric system

Accountability · Corporate governance · Global governance · Order (exchange) · Politics · Regionalisation · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · International Law and Human Rights · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses