In the landscape of international law, the establishment of the International Criminal Court represented an effort to overcome the long-standing tension between state sovereignty and the aspiration for individual accountability for the most serious crimes. At the heart of this transformation lies Article 27 of the Rome Statute, which, by negating official immunity, introduced a substantive shift in the fight against international impunity. However, a deep and significant gap exists between this legal ideal and its practical efficacy concerning nationals of non-member states, a reality that challenges the legitimacy of the entire international criminal justice system. Accordingly, aiming to explain this effectiveness gap, this research addresses the primary question of to what extent structural and political obstacles undermine the effectiveness of Article 27 in realizing the criminal responsibility of these individuals. Employing a descriptive-analytical methodology and analyzing the Court's primary documents and secondary sources, the article tests its central hypothesis. The key findings indicate that the efficacy of Article 27 is effectively neutralized by a three-tiered corrosive chain of obstacles. First, the Court’s inherent jurisdictional limitations and the paralysis of the Security Council referral mechanism preclude the prosecution of many officials from the outset. Second, the Court's absolute dependence on state cooperation for enforcement reduces its judicial authority to a political request, leading to the continuation of de facto immunity for powerful accused individuals. Third, the convergence of these two obstacles results in the application of selective justice, eroding the normative power of the principle of negating immunity globally. Ultimately, this study concludes that, given the Court's limitations, the future of the fight against impunity lies not in opposition but in a synergy between the ICC and national courts through the principle of universal jurisdiction. This approach fosters a complementary framework of accountability wherein no official, regardless of nationality or position, can evade justice.

Article 27 of the Rome Statute Individual Criminal Responsibility Official Immunity Non Member States Universal Jurisdiction Selective Justice.