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I discovered, while researching one of my fictional books, that you can learn a great deal about human history. My curiosity led to the question of which of today’s countries were the first to institute bonded labor or slavery.  To my surprise, the Netherlands was included in that list. The home of the ICC, the International Criminal Court. This global center of law regularly hosts exhibitions showcasing its cultural diversity.

Talk of merging U.S. and international criminal law resurfaces whenever global atrocities demand accountability. Yet, a full structural merger between U.S. courts and the International Criminal Court (ICC) remains constitutionally and politically impossible. The U.S. has never ratified the Rome Statute; sovereignty, due process, and separation of powers stand immovable.

Although the US was instrumental in creating the ICC post-World War II, it is not a signatory. Still, the convergence is happening quietly. Washington has cooperated with the ICC on evidence against Russian war crimes in Ukraine — proof that selective interoperability works when national interest aligns with moral necessity. It’s law, not surrender, as diplomacy.

The bridge is complementarity: the ICC prosecutes only when national courts fail. Strengthening domestic systems effectively fulfills international obligations without ceding authority.

Our challenge isn’t legal architecture — it’s trust. A world fractured by nationalism and digital borders needs justice mechanisms that communicate, not compete. The future isn’t merger; it’s modular cooperation — where sovereignty and humanity coexist under one evolving rule of law.