National civil remedies are the development, within civil legislation, of the right to bring suit by victims and their heirs, which enable them to obtain certain civil remedies (Cassese, 2008). For instance, former prisoners of concentration camps of Nazi Germany or their heirs can demand compensations from Germany for damages the prisoners have suffered during their imprisonment. In fact, national civil remedies comprise an integral part of the international criminal court and international humanitarian law because they provide victims of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide or torture to obtain remedies from their offenders or from countries that admitted such offenses and which official governments supported such anti-humanitarian policies.
In addition, individuals may be accountable to mechanisms for the reparation of victims. In fact, mechanisms for the reparation of victims are an essential element of the restorative justice, which function the international criminal court and international humanitarian law perform. The system of reparation allows victims to obtain compensations for their sufferings. In fact, the compensation of damages caused by illegal actions under the international criminal court and international humanitarian law is essential since the punishment of criminals alone is not sufficient for the restoration of justice, which is the main goal of the international criminal court and international humanitarian law. Fair compensations for victims’ sufferings in terms of mechanisms for the reparation of victims under the jurisdiction of the international criminal court and international humanitarian law are essential for the full restoration of justice.
At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that both monetary and non-monetary forms of compensations are applicable to victims, while individuals committing crimes should be accountable for reparations of victims of their crimes. In fact, the monetary compensations are not always enough because individuals, who have become victims of crimes, such as war crimes, for instance, suffer severe moral damages and they need non-monetary forms of compensations. In this regard, a simple excuse is very important for victims of such crimes and the international criminal court and international humanitarian law encourage criminals to provide their victims with non-monetary reparations.
Thus, the international criminal court and international humanitarian law performs a very important function in the contemporary international relations. The emergence of the international criminal court and international humanitarian law in the mid-20th century confronted the Cold War which made the practical implementation of the Geneva Convention and norms of the international humanitarian law virtually impossible. It is only until the 1990s, the implementation of norms and standards of the international criminal court and international humanitarian law became possible. Today, the international criminal court and international humanitarian law function properly and perform an important judicial function at the international level making all individuals in the world accountable for such crimes as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, torture and other crimes that are under the jurisdiction of the international criminal court and international humanitarian law.