[Special Feature: How to Face War Crimes] Juro Iwatani: Does "The Argument of the Strong Always Prevail"? — The Ideals Connecting the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Keio University

On January 3, 2026, when I heard the news of the U.S. invasion of Venezuela, the cold lesson from La Fontaine's fable "The Wolf and the Lamb" crossed my mind: "The argument of the strongest is always the best (La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure)." Today's international society seems to be transforming into a world ruled by naked "power," as if to prove these ruthless words as reality. The wisdom of humanity known as the rule of law is on the verge of succumbing to the primitive impulse of violence.

In fact, prior to this large-scale military action, U.S. pressure on the ICC was impossible to ignore. In February 2025, the Trump administration denounced the ICC as an "illegitimate court" in retaliation for the issuance of arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials the previous November. Furthermore, it imposed aggressive sanctions, such as asset freezes and entry restrictions, on individual ICC prosecutors and judges. The fact that the U.S. also suggested it would impose "secondary sanctions" on third parties providing services to these sanctioned individuals carries the intent to isolate the ICC from global financial and information networks. This could fundamentally damage the ICC's ability to perform its duties and lead to functional failure. If the ICC were to disappear, it would mean "returning to the state before the Nuremberg Trials" (Tomoko Akane, "Fighting War Crimes: The International Criminal Court Will Not Yield", Bunshun Shinsho). It is no exaggeration to say that the independence of international criminal justice is now facing an unprecedented crisis of survival since the establishment of the modern judicial system.

Amidst this rising tension in international politics, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on January 11, 2026, that one of the four regional offices the ICC is planning to establish worldwide would be located at Keio University. However, it must be clarified that this is not a "settled fact" at this point. It should be noted that this is a "premature" interpretation reflecting the expectations of the media. The essence of the concept currently being carefully considered for feasibility between Keio University and the ICC is not so much a clerical administrative base for the ICC organization, but rather that Keio would serve as an "academic hub" for academic and intellectual networks in the Asia-Pacific region.

This concept was by no means born overnight in response to recent political situations. Deep academic exchange between the ICC and Keio University dates back to 2004, two years after the ICC was officially established. For over 20 years since then, steady and energetic academic dialogue has been built up, centered on Professor Philipp Osten of the Faculty of Law, an expert in international criminal law. When Judge Tomoko Akane became the first Japanese President of the ICC in March 2024, her visit to the Mita Campus was realized just three months later in June. On that occasion, not only was a moving commemorative lecture held for the President, Vice-Presidents, faculty, and students, but an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was also signed to establish a system for continuously sending talented students (not limited to law specialists) to the ICC as interns, and to further expand opportunities for research and training exchange among faculty and practitioners.

Taking the previous newspaper announcement as a "blessing in disguise," Keio University has reaffirmed its policy to continue providing as much cooperation as possible as an international and cutting-edge center for research and education that supports the ideal of "lasting respect for and enforcement of international justice" (Preamble to the Rome Statute of the ICC), while strictly maintaining an academic and neutral stance. This is not a transient decision made to suit the current times. It is an expression of an unchanging determination to solidify the solidarity of knowledge based on the strong relationship of trust cultivated with the ICC over many years.

The "1st ICC Asia-Pacific Academic Forum," held at the Mita Campus for two days on November 27 and 28, 2025, took place exactly during a period of intense upheaval in the international order, just before the use of force in the invasion of Venezuela. This forum, which brought together experts and practitioners from a total of 10 universities in Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia, became a historic venue for exploring how academia in ICC member states in the Asia-Pacific region can contribute intellectually and defend the rule of law against the unprecedented political difficulties facing the ICC.

Professor Osten served as the moderator and coordinator of the forum, and specific considerations were made regarding human resource development through internships for students and researchers at the ICC, as well as strengthening cooperation between universities through the development of seminars and common curricula. At the same time, an ambitious outlook was officially declared to strengthen outreach to non-member states in the Asia-Pacific region and lead to an increase in the number of member states. This significant event held at Keio was widely covered by major domestic and international media outlets, and its aspirations were conveyed across the seas to policymakers and researchers in various countries.

According to Susumu Yamauchi, Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University and a specialist in the history of international law and the law of war, the modern era presents a sense of regressing to the dark ages of the "Middle Ages," where there are no substantial restrictions on the use of force and total war targeting even non-combatants has become normalized. Yamauchi states in his book that for this very reason, we must once again solemnly recall the history of "human rights" that the modern era discovered at great sacrifice. At the core of that spirit is the "Rousseau-Portalis Principle," which states that "war is a relation between State and State, and not between man and man." This principle was the most important starting point for Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959), a Polish legal scholar who fled Nazi persecution and sought refuge in the U.S. via Japan, when he later legally established the chilling concept of "genocide" (Susumu Yamauchi, "A History of Legal Concepts of Plunder: People, War, and Law in Medieval and Early Modern Europe", University of Tokyo Press).

The "Genocide Convention" (adopted by UN resolution in 1948, entered into force in 1951; Japan has yet to ratify it), realized through Lemkin's dedicated efforts, now serves as a pillar carving out the unwavering legal principles for judging war crimes (core crimes) under the jurisdiction of the ICC. This noble legal principle, which asserts that harming or plundering civilians is absolutely unjust even in wartime, has sadly been ignored and intentionally forgotten by those in power many times throughout history. That is why we must discern the voice of universal ideals amidst a history where violence stands at the forefront and confusion reigns, and we must persistently continue to speak of our ideals. I am convinced that the mission of the ICC lies here, and that this forum and the dialogues to follow have a historical role to play.

During her visit to the Juku in 2024, Director Akane earnestly spoke to the Keio students gathered for her lecture about the importance of not viewing global conflicts or the difficulties of realizing ideals as "someone else's business," but rather bringing them close to oneself as "our own problems" that we must solve. Ideals and principles can only come to life and we can only become "subjects" who live by those principles when "we who live in the here and now" take on the unpredictable events and frictions accompanying their realization as our own challenges.

Yukichi Fukuzawa once stated, "People should look within themselves and think that they must labor with their own minds and strength to exist in the world, just as if their own person were another..." (Appendix to Things Western (Seiyō Jijō Gaihen), Volume 1, emphasis by Iwatani), describing an ideal image of society woven by subjects with independent spirits interacting with mutual respect. Keio University's motto, "independence and self-respect," is not merely a survival tactic for getting by in the world. Rather, when we receive this as a principle showing how humans should ideally live and how a civilized society should be, we appreciate the immense difficulty of its realization while simultaneously gaining the pride of living by that principle for the first time.

In July 2025, at the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall), Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, overlapped the international situation of the late 19th century when Fukuzawa lived with the present, asking, "How will we survive this turning point in history?" Then, carefully interpreting Fukuzawa's theories, she explained that the tightening of the partnership between Europe and Japan is necessary precisely "not only to build our own independence but to strengthen each other's independence" (Ursula von der Leyen [translated by Taiyo Tsuchiya], "Speech at the Honorary Doctorate Conferral Ceremony, Keio University", Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press), November 2025 issue). The essence of independence and self-respect is surely spoken of here.

The "spirit of independence" that Keio University has maintained since its founding is nothing other than the indomitable determination to continue walking toward high ideals yet to be reached, without settling for the status quo. In an uncertain era overshadowed by rule by force, I sincerely hope that Keio University will continue to fulfill its role as a resilient and open "vessel" for correctly passing down the ideals of humanity and the principles of justice upheld by the ICC to the next generation. This is no longer just a contribution from a single school, but a heavy responsibility that we, and Japan as a nation, must fulfill toward the future international order.

(Note) The January 2026 issue of "Liberty and Justice" by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations features a special report on "Prospects for the International Criminal Court and Strengthening the Rule of Law." The articles by Professor Osten and Mr. Takashi Kubota (Associate Professor, Shinshu University) deal with the ICC system and the issue of developing Japanese domestic law. It also includes a roundtable discussion with Judge Akane and articles by an ICC lawyer and the Registrar (Officer) of the ICC, making for extremely interesting content. Readers are encouraged to refer to it as well.