Why the crime of aggression will not reduce the practice of aggression

The new crime of aggression in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court poses a puzzle for constructivism. Although the norm against aggression has the support of a critical mass of states for it to cascade, the crime against aggression is predicted to have no significant effect. The reason is that the crime is overbroad; it makes no provision for humanitarian intervention and other quasi-legal but arguably legitimate operations. Despite the intent of the crime’s drafters, the statutory safeguards that prevent prosecutions for such operations are actually illusory. The crime as codified chills such quasi-legal but necessary operations, therefore it will not garner the support of a critical mass of frequent users of force that would be necessary for this norm to cascade also. Furthermore, the history of double-standards in other UN political and judicial bodies erodes confidence in the crime’s impartial application.