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The act of enforced disappearance represents one of the gravest human rights violations recognised under international law. On 21 December 2010, through Resolution 65/209, the United Nations (“UN”) General Assembly expressed deep concern over the increasing number of enforced disappearances worldwide. This violation is defined as any act of arrest, detention, or abduction that is followed by refusal to acknowledge the person’s fate or a concealment of their whereabouts. For this reason, the UN established the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, commemorated annually on August 30th, as an official occasion to confront and raise global awareness of this human rights violation. The very institutions charged with safeguarding citizens become the perpetrator of their persecution. It is in response to this profound injustice that the international day was created. This day serves not as a celebration, but as a moment of remembrance and solidarity, honouring those who have been forcibly taken from their families, often by state authorities or with state approval, and whose fate remains deliberately concealed.

By compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to even engage in commercial sex acts, human trafficking is thereby viewed as a violation of human rights. Every year, countless children, men, and women worldwide fall victim to the crime of human trafficking. Vulnerable individuals – particularly children, migrants, and those living in poverty – are often prey to traffickers as these groups typically lack sufficient legal protection and access to support systems, hence making them easier to exploit. Forced labour, sex slavery and organ trafficking. On that score, traffickers would isolate and limit their victims’ freedom in order to maintain control over them and to prevent their escape. Furthermore, victims are often stripped of their identification, thus cutting off all traces of the victim, which eventually makes it difficult to identify the victims of human trafficking. Human trafficking is not merely a domestic matter, as it has long been recognised as an issue to the international community, with its genesis marked by the creation of the 1904 International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic, a convention addressing slavery and human trafficking, while shedding light into the illegal trade of white people.  Individuals from selected  regions  are targeted and transported by traffickers across multiple jurisdictions. Due to its nature as a cross-border or transnational crime,  human trafficking thereby necessitates coordinated international responses. In this vein, addressing the crime of human trafficking requires robust cooperation between states, harmonised legal standards, effective information-sharing mechanisms and consistent legal enforcement. In order to create shared obligations for the prevention, protection and punishment of human trafficking, transnational legal instruments, such as the Palermo Protocol, are vital. Nevertheless, it would be easier said than done, as effectively putting these ideas into practice remains a significant challenge for numerous states across the world.

The International Criminal Court (“ICC”) is a beacon of justice in a world that is becoming increasingly plagued by international conflicts. The ICC as an independent international organization is established under the Rome Statute, exercising the mandate to prosecute and hold accountable perpetrators of the most serious crimes to the international community, even amid the escalation of armed conflicts and humanitarian crises worldwide. On the other hand, the complexity of its own laws makes it harder for it to hold people accountable. Resultantly, the international community continues to grapple complex legal challenges, including those arising from significant constraints rooted in the ICC’s legal foundation. Notably, Article 87, 89, and 98 of the Rome Statute make it very hard for the ICC to arrest suspects and bring them to trial. This raises concerns about the Court’s capacity to deliver justice and prevent impunity. 

To address international crimes, the ICC is authorised to issue arrest warrants for individuals suspected of committing crimes listed in Article 5 of the Rome Statute. These warrants are the primary instrument through which the Court exercises its judicial authority. Once a warrant is issued, they initiate further steps such as investigations and prosecutions, with general principles of criminal law applied throughout the trial process. A key example of the ICC’s use of arrest warrants occurred in March 2023, when it issued for Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, over war crimes related to the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. Similarly, In November 2024 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant faced allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity for employing starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid to Gaza. These cases highlight the ICC’s efforts to transform legal authority into tangible accountability. Therefore, this article examines how Article 87, 89, and 98 of the Rome Statute create enforcement challenges that hinder the Court’s ability to fulfill its mandate and the urgent need for reform to strengthen the ICC’s ability to carry out its mandate.

October – a month popular for spooky celebrations of pagan and secular traditions. What is lesser known to people is that the month is equally dedicated to celebrate the realm that stretches beyond earth’s atmosphere; an annual observance of the yonder that lies outside the Kármán Line. In particular, space exploration is commemorated during World Space Week, in which the achievements and benefits it brings to humanity is recognised throughout the 4th – 10th of every October.