Afghanistan, Narcotics and the International Criminal Court: From Port of Spain to Kabul, via Rome.

This article investigates the potential impact of inclusion of narcotic trafficking under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Analysis uses the single case study of Afghanistan: the world’s largest source of illicit opiates. To establish a foundation section one will discuss the four main objections to the inclusion of narcotics trafficking presented during the primary negotiations for the ICC. The article then moves beyond legal arguments by assessing the potential effects of the inclusion of narcotic trafficking by applying concepts and evidence from the drug control, policing and crime prevention literature. The conclusion weighs up a number of arguments for and against the inclusion of narcotic trafficking in the Rome Statute of the ICC.