International Criminal Court

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) was created by a treaty called the Rome Statute, which entered into force on July 1, 2002.
• By December 2011, 120 countries had ratified the Rome Statute and joined the ICC.  Most of the democracies of the world are members of the ICC, including Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and many others.
• The ICC only prosecutes the worst of the worst crimes:
  • Genocide,
  • War Crimes, and
  • Crimes Against Humanity.

• The ICC is an autonomous institution located in the Netherlands. It is not part of the United Nations.
• The ICC is overseen by the Assembly of States Parties, made up of representatives of every country that has ratified the Rome Statute.
• The Assembly of States Parties, among other duties,
  • Elects the judges and the prosecutor (and can remove them if they fail to uphold their duties), and
  • Debates and votes on any amendments to the Rome Statute. 
  • Oversees the budget of the ICC.

• The ICC has 18 judges who serve nine-year, non-renewable terms.
• The first 18 judges were elected in February 2003.  Canadian Phillippe Kirsch was selected as the first President or chief judge.
• As of July 2009, the President is Sang-hyun Song from South Korea.  Fatoumata Dembele Diarra is First Vice-President and Hans-Peter Kaul is Second Vice-President. All three were elected on 11 March 2009.
• The first Prosecutor, Argentine Luis Moreno Ocampo, was elected in April 2003.
• The first Registrar, Bruno Cathala of France, who will oversee the administration of the Court, was elected June 24, 2003, for a term of five years.
• The current Registrar is Silvana Arbia, who was elected on 28 February 2009.

• The ICC only has jurisdiction over crimes committed since July 1, 2002.
• The ICC complements domestic courts: it will always defer to national courts.  The ICC will only act when national court systems are unwilling or unable to do so.
• If all the other requirements are met, the ICC may investigate and prosecute an individual if
  • The accused is a citizen of an ICC member state,
  • The alleged crime took place on the territory of an ICC member state,
  • The UN Security Council asks the ICC to open an investigation, or
  • A country voluntarily accepts ICC jurisdiction.
• The Security Council can vote to block any investigation or prosecution.

The Rome Statute defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:

• Killing members of the group;
• Inflicting serious harm on members of the group (including torture and rape);
• Deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the group’s destruction (such as withholding food or medicine); or
• Preventing births within the group or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Drawing on existing agreements, like the Convention against Torture, the Rome Statute defines crimes against humanity as any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population

• Murder, Torture, or Enslavement (including trafficking of women and children);
• Extermination (including withholding food and medicine);
• Deportation or forcible transfer of population (ethnic cleansing);
• Imprisonment or confinement in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
• Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, or enforced sterilization;
• Persecution against any identifiable group based on gender, political affiliation, race, nationality, ethnicity, culture, or religion; or
• Enforced disappearance of persons.

The Court has jurisdiction over war crimes that are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.  Based on the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute includes the following war crimes (not a complete list):

• Conscripting or enlisting children under age 15 into armed forces;
• Taking hostages;
• Intentionally directing attacks against civilians not participating in hostilities;
• Intentionally directing attacks against peacekeepers and humanitarian aid workers;
• Deliberately impeding relief supplies;
• Use of poison gas; or
• Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, or enforced sterilization.

• The Court has opened investigations in 7 situations: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, Darfur (Sudan), Central African Republic, Libya, Kenya and Côte d'Ivoire.
• The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC is also analyzing information about a number of countries around the world to determine whether to open new investigations. According to public and official statements, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor has made public that it is examining at least eight situations on four continents, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, South Korea, Nigeria and Palestine.

• Fact Sheet: The Crime of Aggression - This fact sheet explains the concept of the crime of aggression as well as its relevance to the ICC and how the crime’s inclusion in the Rome Statute could affect the Court.
• Policy Position Paper: The Crime of Aggression Policy - In the summer of 2010 CGS took the position that the crime of aggression should be defined and operationalized within the Rome Statute to allow the Court to prosecute unlawful acts of war.
• Press Release: U.S. NGO's Support Definition of Crime of Aggression in Rome Statute, 6/4/2010 - This CGS press release supports the definition of the crime of aggression as proposed during the Kampala ICC Review Conference and criticizes the lack of U.S. support for the definition.
• Press Release: ICC Conference Takes Steps to End Aggression, 6/14/2010 - This CGS press release summarizes the historic precedents set forth by the Kampala ICC Review Conference and analyzes the U.S. position.
• Article: The Court of Last Resort - An Op-ed from Foreign Policy in Focus on how the U.S. should engage with the delegates to the 2010 Kampala Review Conference of the ICC.