The ICC has faced a number of criticisms from states and society, including objections about its jurisdiction, accusations of bias, questioning of the fairness of its case-selection and trial procedures, as well as doubts about its effectiveness. == History == The establishment of an international tribunal to judge political leaders accused of international crimes was first proposed during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 following the First World War by the Commission of Responsibilities.
The issue was addressed again at a conference held in Geneva under the auspices of the League of Nations in 1937, which resulted in the conclusion of the first convention stipulating the establishment of a permanent international court to try acts of international terrorism.
In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly first recognised the need for a permanent international court to deal with atrocities of the kind prosecuted after the Second World War.
At the request of the General Assembly, the International Law Commission (ILC) drafted two statutes by the early 1950s but these were shelved during the Cold War, which made the establishment of an international criminal court politically unrealistic. Benjamin B.
A second major advocate was Robert Kurt Woetzel, who co-edited Toward a Feasible International Criminal Court in 1970 and created the Foundation for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in 1971. === Towards a permanent international criminal court === In June 1989, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, A.
The relationship between the Court and the UN is governed by a "Relationship Agreement between the International Criminal Court and the United Nations". ===Nongovernmental organizations=== During the 1970s and 1980s, international human rights and humanitarian Nongovernmental Organizations (or NGOs) began to proliferate at exponential rates.
A second major advocate was Robert Kurt Woetzel, who co-edited Toward a Feasible International Criminal Court in 1970 and created the Foundation for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in 1971. === Towards a permanent international criminal court === In June 1989, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, A.
In his first book published in 1975, entitled Defining International Aggression: The Search for World Peace, he advocated for the establishment of such a court.
The relationship between the Court and the UN is governed by a "Relationship Agreement between the International Criminal Court and the United Nations". ===Nongovernmental organizations=== During the 1970s and 1980s, international human rights and humanitarian Nongovernmental Organizations (or NGOs) began to proliferate at exponential rates.
A second major advocate was Robert Kurt Woetzel, who co-edited Toward a Feasible International Criminal Court in 1970 and created the Foundation for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in 1971. === Towards a permanent international criminal court === In June 1989, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, A.
While work began on the draft, the United Nations Security Council established two ad hoc tribunals in the early 1990s: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, created in 1993 in response to large-scale atrocities committed by armed forces during Yugoslav Wars, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, created in 1994 following the Rwandan genocide.
While NGOs look to mold the ICC to satisfy the interests and priorities that they have worked for since the early 1990s, they unavoidably press against the limits imposed upon the ICC by the states that are members of the organization.
While work began on the draft, the United Nations Security Council established two ad hoc tribunals in the early 1990s: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, created in 1993 in response to large-scale atrocities committed by armed forces during Yugoslav Wars, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, created in 1994 following the Rwandan genocide.
While work began on the draft, the United Nations Security Council established two ad hoc tribunals in the early 1990s: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, created in 1993 in response to large-scale atrocities committed by armed forces during Yugoslav Wars, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, created in 1994 following the Rwandan genocide.
The creation of these tribunals further highlighted to many the need for a permanent international criminal court. In 1994, the ILC presented its final draft statute for the International Criminal Court to the General Assembly and recommended that a conference be convened to negotiate a treaty that would serve as the Court's statute.
To consider major substantive issues in the draft statute, the General Assembly established the Ad Hoc Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, which met twice in 1995.
From 1996 to 1998, six sessions of the Preparatory Committee were held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, during which NGOs provided input and attended meetings under the umbrella organisation of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).
From 1996 to 1998, six sessions of the Preparatory Committee were held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, during which NGOs provided input and attended meetings under the umbrella organisation of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).
In January 1998, the Bureau and coordinators of the Preparatory Committee convened for an Inter-Sessional meeting in Zutphen in the Netherlands to technically consolidate and restructure the draft articles into a draft. Finally, the General Assembly convened a conference in Rome in June 1998, with the aim of finalizing the treaty to serve as the Court's statute.
On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by a vote of 120 to seven, with 21 countries abstaining.
"At first the US supported the idea [of a permanent international criminal court] and was actively involved in the 1998 Rome negotiations.
4, pp. 377–399 (April 1998). Sunga, Lyal S.
"The United States and the International Criminal Court", Law and Contemporary Problems, Winter 2001, vol.
The ICC lacks universal territorial jurisdiction, and may only investigate and prosecute crimes committed within member states, crimes committed by nationals of member states, or crimes in situations referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council. The ICC began operations on 1 July 2002, upon the entry into force of the Rome Statute, a multilateral treaty that serves as the court's foundational and governing document.
Israel's opposition to the treaty stemmed from the inclusion in the list of war crimes "the action of transferring population into occupied territory". Following 60 ratifications, the Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 and the International Criminal Court was formally established.
Individuals can only be prosecuted for crimes that took place on or after 1 July 2002, which is the date that the Rome Statute entered into force.
If a state became party to the Statute, and therefore a member of the Court, after 1 July 2002, then the Court cannot exercise jurisdiction prior to the membership date for certain cases.
The rest of the building's volumes accommodate the offices of the different organs of the ICC. {| | | |} ==== Provisional headquarters, 2002–2015 ==== Until late 2015, the ICC was housed in interim premises in The Hague provided by the Netherlands.
"Universal Jurisdiction and the International Criminal Court", Manitoba Law Journal, 2002, vol.
The first bench of 18 judges was elected by the Assembly of States Parties in February 2003.
They were sworn in at the inaugural session of the Court on 11 March 2003.
Her predecessor, Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina, had been in office from 2003 to 2012. On Friday, 12 February 2021, British barrister Karim Khan was selected in a secret ballot against three other candidates to replace the current lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as the new prosecutor.
All three nations cited the fact that all 39 people indicted by the court over its history have been African and that the court has made no effort to investigate war crimes tied to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan since 2003. === OPCD === Concerning the independent Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD), Thomas Lubanga's defence team say they were given a smaller budget than the Prosecutor and that evidence and witness statements were slow to arrive. ===Limitations=== Limitations exist for the ICC.
Vienna/New York: Springer, 2003, . Fichtelberg, Aaron.
The Court issued its first arrest warrants on 8 July 2005, and the first pre-trial hearings were held in 2006.
The Court issued its first arrest warrants on 8 July 2005, and the first pre-trial hearings were held in 2006.
The Trial Proceedings of the International Criminal Court – ICTY and ICTR Precedents, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006, (). Calvo-Goller, Karin, La procédure et la jurisprudence de la Cour pénale internationale, (Preface by Pr Robert Badinter), Lextenso éditions – La Gazette du Palais, 2012, (). Cassese, Antonio; Gaeta, Paola; Jones, John R.W.D.
As of 18 October 2007, the Court had field offices in Kampala, Kinshasa, Bunia, Abéché and Bangui. ==Finance== The ICC is financed by contributions from the states parties.
The maximum amount a single country can pay in any year is limited to 22% of the Court's budget; Japan paid this amount in 2008. The Court spent €80.5 million in 2007.
2 vol., Berlin 2007, .
Retrieved 2007-07-24. Roach, Steven C.
In addition, the host state organised and financed the architectural design competition which started at the end of 2008. Three architects were chosen by an international jury from a total of 171 applicants to enter into further negotiations.
The maximum amount a single country can pay in any year is limited to 22% of the Court's budget; Japan paid this amount in 2008. The Court spent €80.5 million in 2007.
The Assembly of States Parties approved a budget of €90.4 million for 2008, €101.2 million for 2009, and €141.6 million for 2017.
Initially the thorny issue of the actual application of the complementarity principle arose in 2008, when William Schabas published his influential paper.
The Assembly of States Parties approved a budget of €90.4 million for 2008, €101.2 million for 2009, and €141.6 million for 2017.
The Court issued its first judgment in 2012 when it found Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty of war crimes related to using child soldiers. In 2010, the states parties of the Rome Statute held the first Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in Kampala, Uganda.
Disputes concerning individual cases are settled by the Judicial Divisions. In 2010, Kampala, Uganda hosted the Assembly's Rome Statute Review Conference. === Organs of the Court === The Court has four organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Division, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry. ====Presidency==== The Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court (apart from the Office of the Prosecutor).
Such an amendment was adopted at the first review conference of the ICC in Kampala, Uganda, in June 2010.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief ICC prosecutor, stressed in 2011 the importance of politics in prosecutions: "You cannot say al-Bashir is in London, arrest him.
You need a political agreement." Henry Kissinger says the checks and balances are so weak that the prosecutor "has virtually unlimited discretion in practice". As of 16 June 2012, the Prosecutor has been Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, who had been elected as the new Prosecutor on 12 December 2011.
The Danish firm schmidt hammer lassen were ultimately selected to design the new premises since its design met all the ICC criteria, such as design quality, sustainability, functionality and costs. Demolition of the barracks started in November 2011 and was completed in August 2012.
The Court issued its first judgment in 2012 when it found Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty of war crimes related to using child soldiers. In 2010, the states parties of the Rome Statute held the first Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in Kampala, Uganda.
You need a political agreement." Henry Kissinger says the checks and balances are so weak that the prosecutor "has virtually unlimited discretion in practice". As of 16 June 2012, the Prosecutor has been Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, who had been elected as the new Prosecutor on 12 December 2011.
Her predecessor, Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina, had been in office from 2003 to 2012. On Friday, 12 February 2021, British barrister Karim Khan was selected in a secret ballot against three other candidates to replace the current lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as the new prosecutor.
The Danish firm schmidt hammer lassen were ultimately selected to design the new premises since its design met all the ICC criteria, such as design quality, sustainability, functionality and costs. Demolition of the barracks started in November 2011 and was completed in August 2012.
In October 2012 the tendering procedure for the General Contractor was completed and the combination Visser & Smit Bouw and Boele & van Eesteren ("Courtys") was selected. ==== Architecture ==== The building has a compact footprint and consists of six connected building volumes with a garden motif.
The Trial Proceedings of the International Criminal Court – ICTY and ICTR Precedents, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006, (). Calvo-Goller, Karin, La procédure et la jurisprudence de la Cour pénale internationale, (Preface by Pr Robert Badinter), Lextenso éditions – La Gazette du Palais, 2012, (). Cassese, Antonio; Gaeta, Paola; Jones, John R.W.D.
. Chappell, Louise, 'The Role of the ICC in Transitional Gender Justice: Capacity and Limitations' in Susanne Buckley-Zistel/Ruth Stanley (eds.): Gender in Transitional Justice, Palgrave, 2012, pp. 37–58. Köchler, Hans.
The previous Registrar was Herman von Hebel, who was elected on 8 March 2013.
Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court's Battle to Fix the World, One Prosecution at a Time, Oxford University Press, 2014. Broomhall, Bruce.
However, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross maintain that granting amnesty to those accused of war crimes and other serious crimes is a violation of international law. ==Facilities== === Headquarters === The official seat of the Court is in The Hague, Netherlands, but its proceedings may take place anywhere. The Court moved into its first permanent premises in The Hague, located at Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, on 14 December 2015.
The rest of the building's volumes accommodate the offices of the different organs of the ICC. {| | | |} ==== Provisional headquarters, 2002–2015 ==== Until late 2015, the ICC was housed in interim premises in The Hague provided by the Netherlands.
It is totally unacceptable." ===African Union (AU) withdrawal proposal=== South African President Jacob Zuma said the perceptions of the ICC as "unreasonable" led to the calling of the special AU summit on 13 October 2015.
The UN also regretted the effect sanctions may have on trials and investigations underway, saying its independence must be protected. In October 2016, after repeated claims that the court was biased against African states, Burundi, South Africa and the Gambia announced their withdrawals from the Rome Statute.
On 26 June 2016 the first condition was satisfied and the state parties voted in favor of allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction on 14 December 2017.
Lubanga and Katanga were convicted and sentenced to 14 and 12 years imprisonment, respectively, whereas Chui was acquitted. The judgment of Jean-Pierre Bemba was rendered in March 2016.
In November, the ICC's Assembly of State Parties responded to Kenya's calls for an exemption for sitting heads of state by agreeing to consider amendments to the Rome Statute to address the concerns. On 7 October 2016, Burundi announced that it would leave the ICC, after the court began investigating political violence in that nation.
However, this amendment specified that the ICC would not be allowed to exercise jurisdiction of the crime of aggression until two further conditions had been satisfied: (1) the amendment has entered into force for 30 states parties and (2) on or after 1 January 2017, the Assembly of States Parties has voted in favor of allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction.
On 26 June 2016 the first condition was satisfied and the state parties voted in favor of allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction on 14 December 2017.
The Assembly of States Parties approved a budget of €90.4 million for 2008, €101.2 million for 2009, and €141.6 million for 2017.
The High Court of South Africa ruled on 2 February 2017 that the South African government's notice to withdraw was unconstitutional and invalid.
On 7 March 2017 the South African government formally revoked its intention to withdraw; however, the ruling ANC revealed on 5 July 2017 that its intention to withdraw stands. ===Criticism by the United States government === The United States Department of State argues that there are "insufficient checks and balances on the authority of the ICC prosecutor and judges" and "insufficient protection against politicized prosecutions or other abuses".
In June 2017, Victor Tsilonis advanced the same criticism which is reinforced by events, practices of the Office of the Prosecutor and ICC cases in the Essays in Honour of Nestor Courakis.
"They are announced with the declared aim of influencing the actions of ICC officials in the context of the court’s independent and objective investigations and impartial judicial proceedings." Following the announcement that the ICC would open a preliminary investigation on the Philippines in connection to its escalating drug war, President Rodrigo Duterte announced on 14 March 2018 that the Philippines would start to submit plans to withdraw, completing the process on 17 March 2019.
The current Registrar is Peter Lewis, who was elected on 28 March 2018. == Jurisdiction and admissibility == The Rome Statute requires that several criteria exist in a particular case before an individual can be prosecuted by the Court.
Bemba's convictions were overturned by the Court's Appeal Chamber in June 2018. Trials in the Ntaganda case (DR Congo), the Bemba et al.
citizens by force might be possible only through military action. On 10 September 2018, John R.
The Dynamics of International Punishment, Polity Press, 2018, . Ba, Oumar.
"They are announced with the declared aim of influencing the actions of ICC officials in the context of the court’s independent and objective investigations and impartial judicial proceedings." Following the announcement that the ICC would open a preliminary investigation on the Philippines in connection to its escalating drug war, President Rodrigo Duterte announced on 14 March 2018 that the Philippines would start to submit plans to withdraw, completing the process on 17 March 2019.
As of December 2020, there are 123 ICC member states; 42 states have neither signed nor become parties to the Rome Statute. The ICC has four principal organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry.
Following the imposition of sanctions on 11 June 2020 by the Trump administration, the court branded the sanctions an "attack against the interests of victims of atrocity crimes" and an "unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law".
In 2020, overturning the previous decision not to proceed, senior judges at the ICC authorized an investigation into the alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
However, in June 2020, the decision to proceed led Trump administration to power an economic and legal attack on the court.
District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan issued a preliminary injunction against the White House (and its Executive Order 13928 that was issued in June 2020 from President Donald Trump) from imposing criminal or civil penalties against four law professors. ==Structure== The ICC is governed by the Assembly of States Parties, which is made up of the states that are party to the Rome Statute.
He also criticized Palestinian efforts to bring Israel before the ICC over allegations of [rights] abuses in the West Bank and Gaza. ICC responded that it will continue to investigate war crimes undeterred. On 11 June 2020, Mike Pompeo and U.S.
13 (20 August 2020), pp. 50–52.
One of the plaintiffs, Diane Marie Amann, stated that, as a result of sanctions against the chief prosecutor at the ICC, she herself risked having her family assets seized if she continued to work for children who are bought and sold by traffickers, killed, tortured, sexually abused and forced to become child soldiers. However, on January 4, 2021, U.S.
It comprises the President and the First and Second Vice-Presidents—three judges of the Court who are elected to the Presidency by their fellow judges for a maximum of two three-year terms. As of March 2021, the President is Piotr Hofmański from Poland, who took office on 11 March 2021, succeeding Chile Eboe-Osuji.
Her predecessor, Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina, had been in office from 2003 to 2012. On Friday, 12 February 2021, British barrister Karim Khan was selected in a secret ballot against three other candidates to replace the current lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as the new prosecutor.
His nine-year term will start on 16 June 2021.
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