On July 17, the World Day of International Justice is observed around the world as part of efforts to raise awareness about the relevance of international criminal justice. It commemorates the signing of the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). The International Criminal Court (ICC) probes international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

We live in a world where many individuals lack the rights that we, as members of our community, take for granted. And a day like today, when you may think it has little to do with you, is an excellent time to comprehend and appreciate its significance in our lives and the lives of others.

We hear and use the word justice a lot – frequently in the context of ‘fighting for’ or ‘defending’ – but how often do we think about what we mean by it, what others mean by it, and what role it plays in our lives?

It is a term that is frequently used in the area of law, but it is also firmly linked to culture, as is the case with the ICC. Justice is viewed and implemented differently around the world, and how it is perceived and applied in any one location reveals a lot about a community’s and culture’s beliefs, as well as who has authority and who does not.

Ancient Greek philosophers developed the first notions of justice. Justice, according to Aristotle, consists of what is lawful and fair, with fairness entailing equitable distributions and the rectification of inequity. The distribution of wealth in our modern society is mostly established by governments through tax laws, and the rectification of inequity is largely determined by civil and criminal law.

Let’s look at some of the real-life stories:

Political Viewpoints

Itai Dzamara was a pro-democracy activist and Zimbabwean journalist who vanished in 2015. He had previously been targeted by state security officers and had been beaten, kidnapped, and unlawfully detained; his subsequent disappearance is commonly assumed to be the result of the state’s pro-democratic sentiments.

Sexual Orientation

Same-sex sexual behaviour is illegal in more than 70 nations, with some countries even enforcing the death penalty. In June 2017, a photograph of a woman flying a rainbow flag during a performance in Cairo was widely disseminated. As part of a crackdown, police identified Sarah Hegazi, who was then arrested, tortured, and imprisoned for three months. She was granted asylum in Canada after her release, but she committed suicide in June 2020.

Racial or Ethnic Origin

Questions of racism and bias were rarely out of the news even before the Black Lives Matter marches swept the globe. Last year, scientific and civic groups in the United Kingdom expressed worry about the possibility of inherent biases in facial recognition software used for law enforcement purposes that would harm black, Asian, and minority ethnic people.

Religious or Philosophical Belief

The Nazi regime’s methods for gathering data to identify, log, and locate the Jewish people aided the Holocaust. It is critical that we recall that data protection rules have the often-overlooked goal of avoiding the return of authoritarian regimes that aim to exploit data for malicious ends.

These few examples demonstrate how intertwined the issue of individual rights is with the collection, recording, and use of identifying information, and the enormous impact it may have on people’s lives and how fairly they are treated. Because our lives are so intertwined, I’ll close with a quote: ” Everywhere there is injustice, there is a threat to justice.”

Published On: July 17th, 2021 / Categories: Justice /