The work concludes by drawing together the threads of the theory of authority, demonstrating its quiet controversy and undermining its conceptualisation as an archaic aspect of jurisprudence. It is aimed to demonstrate the significant implications that a failure to adequately understand and set out the authority of institutions in international criminal law could have. The question of legitimacy is redundant should there be no exploration of authority, and thus the initial discussion, which demonstrated the link between authority and legitimacy, provided a foundation for the discussion of, effectively, whether exercises of power in international criminal law can be viewed as legitimate.