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International Criminal Court

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Alternative Title: ICC

WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

LAST UPDATED: Jan 15, 2019

International Criminal Court

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DATE

1998 - present

HEADQUARTERS

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 The Hague

AREAS OF INVOLVEMENT

War crime
Genocide

International Criminal Court (ICC), permanent judicial body established by

the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) to prosecute and
adjudicate individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against
humanity. On July 1, 2002, after the requisite number of countries (60)
ratified the agreement, the court began sittings. It is headquartered in the
Netherlands at The Hague.

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International Criminal Court
Learn about the International Criminal Court.
© Open University

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 The ICC was established as a court of last resort to prosecute the most
heinous offenses in cases where national courts fail to act. Unlike the
International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between states, the ICC
handles prosecutions of individuals. The court’s jurisdiction extends to
offenses that occurred after July 1, 2002, that were committed either in a
state that has ratified the agreement or by a national of such a state.

Although the Rome Statute was widely praised (some 140 countries had
signed the agreement by the time it entered into force), few countries in the
Middle East or Asia joined. Further, by 2002, China, Russia, and the United
States had declined to participate, and the United States had threatened to
withdraw its troops from United Nations peacekeeping forces unless its
citizens (both military and civilian) were exempted from prosecution by the
ICC. Nevertheless, within five years of its first sitting more than 100 countries
had ratified the treaty. All member countries are represented in the
Assembly of States Parties, which oversees the activities of the ICC.

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International Criminal Court
Learn about the four organs of the International Criminal Court: the Presidency, the Judicial
Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry.
© Open University

The ICC’s first hearing, held in 2006, was to decide whether charges should
be brought against Thomas Lubanga, who was accused of recruiting child
soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lubanga’s trial, the first
conducted by the ICC, began in January 2009, and in March 2012 the court
found him guilty and later imposed a 14-year prison sentence. In May 2007
the court issued arrest warrants for a government minister and a militia
leader in Sudan for their roles in war crimes and crimes against humanity
committed by Sudanese forces in Darfur. The ICC issued a similar warrant in
March 2009 for Sudanese Pres. Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir—the first
time the court sought the arrest of a sitting head of state.

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 (
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International Criminal Court
Prosecution and defense lawyers discussing their work
at the International Criminal Court.
© Open University

LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:

Sudan: Conflict in Darfur

In July 2008 an International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor

alleged that Bashir, as president of Sudan,…

court: Transnational courts

The International Criminal Court (ICC), which began sittings in

2002, represents a specialized type of…

George W. Bush: Early initiatives

citizens to the new International Criminal Court, whose jurisdiction it rejected.…

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 international criminal law: Categories of international crime

…the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC; 1998) targeted the
same three kinds of crime…

war crime: Recent trends

…a governing statute for an International Criminal Court (ICC) to

be located permanently at The Hague.…

MORE ABOUT International Criminal Court

12 REFERENCES FOUND IN BRITANNICA ARTICLES

Assorted References

Bashir
(In Sudan: Conflict in Darfur)

(In Omar al-Bashir)

crime against humanity

(In crime against humanity)

ethnic cleansing
(In ethnic cleansing)

Gbagbo
(In Laurent Gbagbo)

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 Geneva Conventions
(In Geneva Conventions)

genocide
(In genocide: Recent developments)

international criminal law

(In international criminal law: Categories of international crime)

policies of Bush
(In George W. Bush: Early initiatives)

rape
(In rape: Rape as a weapon of war)

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