We're excited to announce a unique opportunity to join our exclusive webinar, "A Giant Step Towards 'Never Again:' 10 Years of International Justice." The webinar will be held this Saturday at 1:00 PM EST and feature a discussion on the International Criminal Court as it celebrates the 10th anniversary since its creation. The webinar will feature esteemed speakers Luis Moreno Ocampo, former Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, and Ben Ferencz, professor and former Nuremberg Prosecutor.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent international judicial body capable of trying individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.  Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002 thereby creating the Court and its ability to prosecute war criminals.

 As of April 2012, 121 states are parties to the Statue of the Court and thirty-two others, including the United States, have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. There have been 28 indictments, 20 warrants of arrest, 15 cases brought to the Court, six of which are currently on trial, and 9 successful summonses. The court celebrated a landmark moment when it completed its first trial in March 2012, convicting Thomas Lubanga of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of using child soldiers.

For those of us who are passionate about international justice, yesterday marked an extraordinary milestone. The International Criminal Court (ICC), the world's first permanent international court, celebrated its 10^th anniversary. However, its roots go back much further than a mere decade.

The ICC traces its heritage in part back to the Nuremberg trials after World War Two, in which the U.S. played a leading role. Nazi war criminals were put on trial and brought to justice for horrific crimes against humanity committed during the war, and the international community vowed "never again" to allow such atrocities to happen on its watch. Tragically, this promise remained unfulfilled as the 20^th century continued to witness genocides in places as diverse as Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and Sudan. The need for a permanent international body to bring war criminals to justice remained glaring.

In 1998, representatives from around the world met in Rome, Italy to firm up plans for such an international court. The result was the Rome Statute and the creation of the ICC. The Court officially came into being on July 1, 2002.

The Rio+20 summit, intended to develop a global sustainable development agenda, concluded last week.   In the words of author Gwynne Dyer, "rarely has such a large elephant laboured so long to give birth to such a small mouse."  150 world leaders were unwilling and incapable of creating substantive reforms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because of a lack of political will and competing economic interests.  The United Nations, the G-8, G-20, and other major multinational conferences suffer from many of the same ills.  This begs the question, what is the alternative?

Nonetheless, the past few months were busy for the world's major international institutions.  The International Criminal Court, which is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary, convicted Thomas Lubanga in March marking a major milestone for the international justice community.  However, others have not been so successful.  The United Nations is struggling to resolve the fifteen-month long crisis in Syria that has killed more than 10,000 people.   The most recent G-20 summit also recently concluded in Mexico producing piecemeal economic recovery efforts and meaningless statements about violence in Syria.

Four staffers of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were detained in Libya over the weekend after meeting with Saif Gaddafi, son of the deposed dictator, who has been indicted by the Court.  An ICC team is currently working to secure their release.

ICC President Song has called for the release of the staffers, noting that "These four international civil servants have immunity when on an official ICC mission."

Australian ICC lawyer Melinda Taylor was found carrying documents for Gaddafi that were considered "suspicious" by the Libyan authorities. She and her fellow ICC staff were put under house arrest in the town of Zintan and have been ordered to be held in detention for 45 days.

This latest drama comes as the ICC and Libya remain engaged in a broader tug-of-war over where the younger Gaddafi should be tried.  The Libya situation was referred to the ICC last spring by the U.N. Security Council, and the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Gaddafi.  The new Libyan government has expressed a strong desire to try Gaddafi in the country, but it is unclear that they have a sufficient judicial system set up to ensure a fair trial.

We will keep you updated as more news becomes available.