War and Justice

The documentary WAR AND JUSTICE tells the 25-year history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its mission to end the most serious crimes against humanity. But can war crimes in war be prevented at all? Or is Ben Ferencz, former prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, right when he says that the greatest war crime is war itself? On February 24, 2022, Russia invades Ukraine, a short time later the ICC issues an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes. Fast forward, on October 7, 2023, Hamas commits a cruel massacre of Israeli civilians. Israel responds with the largest offensive on Gaza ever. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan travels to the Middle East and announces that he will prosecute any kind of war crimes, on both sides. The film focuses on the Argentinian Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who was appointed the ICC's first Chief Prosecutor in 2003, and Karim Khan, the current Chief Prosecutor. In the course of the film, a complex legal process is given a face and the viewer understands why wars of aggression can hardly be brought to justice when the major world powers - China, Russia, India and the United States - are still unwilling to recognize the ICC as a global court?