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Why does the International Criminal Court rely on national governments to arrest and transfer suspects?

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Railway tracks lead to the brick entrance building and guard tower of Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp near Oswiecim, Poland. — Genocide Freight train tracks leading to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Nazi Germany's largest concentration camp, near Oświęcim, Poland.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) relies on national governments to carry out investigations and to arrest and transfer suspects because it lacks its own independent police force or executive enforcement agency to execute warrants globally.1

Established by the Rome Statute, the ICC functions as a court of last resort, operating on the principle of complementarity. It is designed to intervene only when national justice systems are either unable or unwilling to prosecute the most serious international crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Because the court does not possess sovereign territorial authority, it must depend on the cooperation of states—particularly those that have ratified the Rome Statute—to enforce its judicial decisions, including the apprehension of individuals accused of heinous offenses.12

This reliance on state cooperation is a fundamental structural limitation, as evidenced by instances where signatory nations have failed to execute arrest warrants for high-profile figures, thereby highlighting the challenges the court faces in ensuring accountability without direct enforcement powers.2