Sovereignty and the International Criminal Court: an analysis of the submissions opposed to Australia's ratification

Although Australia had been an advocate of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the end of World War II, debates about the merits of the ICC Statute cast a shadow over the desire of the Government to be among the first signatories - given the volume of dissenting voices on the issue, there is the question as to whether those who are speaking against ratification are using a construction of the concept of sovereignty which is in keeping with that used by the political decision makers - to address the question, the paper provides an historic overview of the development of the concept of sovereignty, and undertakes a critical analysis of its application to the submissions opposed to Australia's ratification of the ICC Statute.