A Warning for the Big Fish: A Review of the Most Significant Roles and Achievements of International Criminal Law in International Legal Order

International Criminal Law (ICL), in order to meet the multidimensional requirements of international community, plays different roles and has contributed to the consolidation and improvement of international legal order. This article, which is conducted through a descriptive-analytic method and by means of a library-based approach in collecting data, aims at reviewing the most significant roles and achievements of ICL in international legal order. Doing so, as the first role, it deals with adding and fixing the notion of international criminal justice to international legal order through the establishment of international criminal tribunals and specifically International Criminal Court (ICC) and the institution of individual criminal responsibility. Thereafter, systemizing and reinforcing the rules of international legal order through codification and progressive development of international law and revitalization of general principles of law as the fundamental but forgotten source of international law that implies the domination of natural rights school’s view regarding the sources of law is taken into account as the second role of ICL. Afterwards, the interesting subject of preservation of fundamental values and interests of international community as the mandate and raison d’être of ICL would be discussed. It appears that ICL is both a sign of evolutionary development and a factor in dynamism and sustainability of international law. Furthermore, it seems that emergence and development of ICL should be regarded as a sign in the gradual formation and relative consistency of international community and transition from international society.