The historical evolution of international criminal justice and the efforts made to establish it after World War II .

The two world wars are considered among the greatest disasters that humanity has witnessed, causing horrors, atrocities, and heinous crimes that violated the most basic human principles and values. The tragedies and destruction resulting from these wars led to a deep shock in the international community, prompting it to continue its efforts to prevent the recurrence of such monstrous acts. Steps were taken to establish more effective mechanisms for prosecuting perpetrators of these crimes. However, wars and conflicts persisted, with innocent civilians being victims in regions such as Bosnia, Herzegovina, Rwanda, Somalia, Cambodia, Lebanon, and others. In the aftermath of each war and conflict, the international community sought to prosecute war criminals by establishing international criminal courts, yet the balance of international criminal justice remained skewed, allowing many war criminals to escape punishment. Hence, the idea of establishing a permanent International Criminal Court emerged, aiming to confront serious violations, enhance the principle of accountability, address the issue of impunity, prevent the recurrence of such violations in the future. Most international criminal law scholars consider the establishment of the International Criminal Court on July 1, 1998, as the first permanent international criminal judicial body, as a culmination of decades of struggle to achieve international criminal justice and ensure accountability for perpetrators of crimes.