First, if the perpetrators of crimes under international law belonged to their ranks, bringing those responsible to justice would help remove the possible stigma of collective guilt. Second, where populations are the victims of atrocities, the punishment of perpetrators is crucial to enabling the process of reconciliation with other groups to begin. To Counter the Failure of National Systems. Ideally, human rights and humanitarian law violations should be dealt with by the national authorities of the state in which they were committed. Practice has shown, however, that governments are rarely willing to call their own citizens to account, especially when the individuals involved occupy positions of political or military authority.
War crimes are a case in point.
The ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda were established precisely because domestic authorities would not or could not punish those responsible for committing or failing to prevent violations of both domestic and international law. Moreover, situations of international or internal conflict may lead to the disruption or even disintegration of domestic legal systems, with no government capable of dispensing justice at all. In such instances the international community needs an instrument through which it can act to restrain and punish offenders. To Remedy the Limitations of Ad Hoc Tribunals. Ad hoc tribunals cannot be a substitute for a permanent International Criminal Court for both political and legal reasons.