The United Kingdom, international courts and human rights: Conservative governments before the ICC and the ICJ

This chapter examines the United Kingdom’s relationship with two international judicial bodies—the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—and the implications of that relationship for the protection and development of human rights. Although neither the ICC nor the ICJ is a human rights court in the strict sense, both institutions play an important role in shaping international legal norms. Through their jurisprudence, advisory functions, and broader influence on international law, they can contribute to human rights protection. Examining the UK’s engagement with these courts offers a novel analytical perspective, particularly considering the extensive scholarship devoted to what has been at times a significantly more controversial relationship with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union.1

The chapter focuses primarily on the fourteen years of Conservative government between 2010 and 2024. However, where relevant, it also considers earlier and more recent practice to assess whether the Conservative governments adopted a distinctive approach to the ICC and the ICJ, or whether their policies largely reflected longer-term patterns in British foreign policy and international legal engagement.
The chapter is structured as follows. The first section analyses the UK’s relationship with the ICC, while the second examines its engagement with the ICJ. The final section summarises the findings and offers an assessment of the UK’s approach to the two courts.

The chapter argues that the UK’s relationship with both the ICC and the ICJ has been characterised more by continuity than change. In relation to the ICC, continuity is evident in the UK’s support for the Court’s institutional functioning, including its financial contributions and voluntary funding mechanisms, its backing of situations referred by the United Nations (UN) Security Council (SC), its response to allegations concerning Iraq, and its defence of the Court’s independence in the face of sanctions imposed by both the first and second Trump administrations. Regarding the ICJ, continuity can be identified in the UK’s position concerning the human rights implications of climate change and in its emphasis on issues such as sexual violence and the targeting of children in the context of genocide.

At the same time, important features characterising the Conservatives’ approach can be identified. In the ICC context, these are particularly visible in the debate surrounding the arrest warrants sought against Israeli leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. In relation to the ICJ, notable shifts emerged in the UK’s approach to the advisory proceedings concerning the Chagos Archipelago and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Furthermore, Ukraine represents the clearest example of sustained support under Conservative governments. In that context, the UK’s actions and submissions before both the ICC and the ICJ reinforced international accountability mechanisms and, indirectly, contributed to the protection of human rights.