National interests must take account of international needs. In this interdependent global society, linked by new networks of instant communication, no nation and no person can feel secure until all are secure. The people are the true sovereigns of today and deserve to be protected under a mantle of enforceable humanitarian law that clearly serves the interests of persons everywhere. We must not fail them now. Ever since the judgment at Nuremberg, it has been undeniable that aggressive war is not a national right but an international crime.
Aggression is the soil from which the worst human rights violations invariably grow.
Only the Court has authority to determine individual culpability or innocence. No criminal statute need reaffirm existing Security Council rights and no treaty can create new Security Council powers that go beyond Charter authorizations. Careful selection, internal supervision, public scrutiny and budgetary controls provide adequate guarantees that neither Prosecutors nor Judges will betray their trust. They must be given the authority and the tools to do their difficult job. Universal condemnation and the certainty of punishment for major transgressors can be a powerful deterrent.