In the idealistic view, the universal jurisdiction is highly supported by the global enforcer concept. Primarily, universal jurisdiction under the global enforcer concept gives mandates and authority to international organizations such as the International Criminal Court to punish heinous crimes of human rights violations and provisions that strengthen domestic criminal justice procedures in line with the universal standards (Kissinger, 2001). The idealism approach provides the basis to which universal jurisdiction and global enforcer should fall into place as informed by two aspects. First, the domestic strengthening and capacity building for legal and justice procedures to prosecute gross human rights violators. Second, in the failure of domestic structures to provide justice, international organizations serve as the global enforcer and prosecute the perpetrators under internationally agreed standards and principles (Kissinger, 2001).
However, in my view, I tend to incline more with Kissinger’s arguments towards abandoning the universal jurisdiction notion altogether. On many accounts, the idealism notion of universal jurisdiction has failed to take shape. The realism view maintains a world order of anarchy in the pursuant of the national interests by respective nation-states (Langer, 2015). International organizations such as the ICC has come under profound scrutiny and criticism with African countries terming it as a neocolonial tool used by Western countries to advance their imperialism and control of African destiny.
Furthermore, countries such as the United States, China, India, and Israel refusing to join the organization; and Russia leaving the organization makes it impossible to serve as a global enforcer of universal jurisdiction. This posits the organizations tasked with enforcing the rules and regulations of international standards defunct and unable to follow through with the implementation of the laws (Kissinger, 2001). Moreover, all international organizations rely on the goodwill of nation-states to comply with the set standards. Therefore, the notion of universal jurisdiction in the realist realm remains to be defunct.
