The International Criminal Court (ICC is an intergovernmental organization and international

tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute
individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The
ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise
its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable
to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer
investigations to the Court. The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the date that the Rome Statute
entered into force. The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC's foundational
and governing document. States which become party to the Rome Statute, for example by ratifying it,
become member states of the ICC. Currently, there are 123 states which are party to the Rome Statute
and therefore members of the ICC.

The ICC has four principal organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the
Prosecutor, and the Registry. The President is the most senior judge chosen by his or her peers in the
Judicial Division, which hears cases before the Court. The Office of the Prosecutor is headed by the
Prosecutor who investigates crimes and initiates proceedings before the Judicial Division. The
Registry is headed by the Registrar and is charged with managing all the administrative functions of
the ICC, including the headquarters, detention union, and public defense office.

The Office of the Prosecutor has opened nine official investigations and is also conducting an
additional nine preliminary examinations. Thus far, 36 individuals have been indicted in the ICC,
including Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, Kenyan president
Uhuru Kenyatta, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo. Since all
of the official investigations have been in Africa, the Office of the Prosecutor has been accused of
selective enforcement and Western imperialism towards African countries.

Seat The Hague

English
Working languages
French

Official languages[1] 6 languages[show]

Member states 123

Leaders

 -President Song Sang-Hyun

 -Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

 -Registrar Herman von Hebel

Establishment

 -Rome Statute adopted 17 July 1998 

 -Entered into force 1 July 2002 

History
The establishment of an international tribunal to judge political leaders accused of international
crimes was first made 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. The convention was signed by 13 states, but none ratified it and the convention never
entered into force.

Following the Second World War, the allied powers established two ad hoc tribunals to prosecute axis
power leaders accused of war crimes. The International Military Tribunal, which sat in Nuremberg,
prosecuted German leaders while the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo
prosecuted Japanese leaders. 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. Ferencz, an investigator of Nazi war crimes after the Second World War, and the Chief
Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, became a vocal advocate of the
establishment of international rule of law and of an international criminal court. 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.

In June 1989 Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago A. N. R. Robinson revived the idea of a
permanent international criminal court by proposing the creation of such a court to deal with the
illegal drug trade. Following Trinidad and Tobago's proposal, the General Assembly tasked the ILC
with once again drafting a statute for a permanent court. While work began on the draft, the United
Nations Security Council established two ad hoc tribunals in early 1990s. The International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was created in 1993 in response to large-scale atrocities
committed by armed forces during Yugoslav Wars and the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda was created in 1994 following the Rwandan Genocide. The creation of these tribunals further
highlighted 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. After considering the Committee's report, the General Assembly created the
Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of the ICC to prepare a consolidated draft text. 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 an ICC (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 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The
seven countries that voted against the treaty were China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, the United States,
and Yemen. Following 60 ratifications, the Rome Statute entered into on 1 July 2002 and the
International Criminal Court was formally established. 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.[12]

The Court issued its first arrest warrants on 8 July 2005 and the first pre-trial hearings were held in
2006.[14] 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. There they adopted, two amendments to the
Statute. The second amendment defined the crime of aggression and outlined the procedure by which
the ICC could prosecute individuals. However, the conditions outlined in the amendment have not yet
been met and the ICC can not yet exercise jurisdiction over crimes of aggression.

The Prosecutor may open an investigation under three circumstances:

 when a situation is referred to him or her by a state party;

 when a situation is referred to him or her by the United Nations Security Council, acting to
address a threat to international peace and security; or

 when the Pre-Trial Chamber authorises him or her to open an investigation on the basis of
information received from other sources, such as individuals or non-governmental
organisations.

Any person being investigated or prosecuted may request the disqualification of a prosecutor from
any case "in which their impartiality might reasonably be doubted on any ground"..Requests for the
disqualification of prosecutors are decided by the Appeals Chamber. A prosecutor may be removed
from office by an absolute majority of the states parties if he or she "is found to have committed
serious misconduct or a serious breach of his or her duties" or is unable to exercise his or her
functions. However, critics of the Court argue 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" Henry Kissinger says the checks and balances are so weak that the
prosecutor "has virtually unlimited discretion in practice" Some efforts have been made to hold
Kissinger himself responsible for perceived injustices of American foreign policy during his tenure in
government.

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.She has been elected for nine years. Her predecessor, Luis
Moreno Ocampo of Argentina, had been in office from 2003 to 2012.

The Registry is responsible for the non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the
Court.This includes, among other things, "the administration of legal aid matters, court management,
victims and witnesses matters, defence counsel, detention unit, and the traditional services provided
by administrations in international organisations, such as finance, translation, building management,
procurement and personnel".The Registry is headed by the Registrar, who is elected by the judges to a
five-year term. The current Registrar is Herman von Hebel, who was elected on 8 March 2013.

The official seat of the Court is in The Hague, Netherlands, but its proceedings may take place
anywhere.
The Court is currently housed in interim premises on the eastern edge of The Hague.It intends to
construct the ICC Permanent Premises in the Alexanderkazerne, to the north of The HagueThe land
and financing for the new construction have been provided by the Netherlands, and architects Schmidt
Hammer Lassen have been retained to design the project.

The ICC also maintains a liaison office in New York and field offices in places where it conducts its
activities As of 18 October 2007, the Court had field offices in Kampala, Kinshasa, Bunia, Abéché
and Bangui

The ICC's detention centre comprises twelve cells on the premises of the Scheveningen branch of the
Haaglanden Penal Institution, The Hague Suspects held by the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia are held in the same prison and share some facilities, like the fitness room, but
have no contact with suspects held by the ICC The detention unit is close to the ICC's future
headquarters in the Alexanderkazerne.

As of July 2012, the detention centre houses one person convicted by the court, Thomas Lubanga, and
four suspects: Germain Katanga, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Laurent Gbagbo.
Additionally, former Liberian President Charles Taylor is held there. Taylor was tried under the
mandate and auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but his trial was held at the ICC's
facilities in The Hague because of political and security concerns about holding the trial in Freetown.
On 26 April 2012, Taylor was convicted on eleven charges.

The ICC does not have its own witness protection program, but rather must rely on national programs
to keep witnesses safe.
 INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
International crimes may be referred to those crimes which are recognized by international
community on account of the consideration that their prevention is essential for the protection of
fundamental interests of the international community. The above implies that whether a crime is an
international crime or not is decided by the states themselves after taking into account its nature and
its relationship with the fundamental interests of the international community. The incidents of
international crimes are required to be prevented as they disrupt or jeopardize the normal course of
international relationship and threatens international peace and security.

Classical international law did not focus much attention towards the international crimes as
individuals were treated as the objects of International Law rather than its subjects . Neither rights or
duties were attributed to them by the rules of International Law with the exception of piracy which
was indeed a recognized crime. Persons committing piracy could be given any punishment by all
states irrespective of their nationality. In modern international law it has been a major concern of the
international community to prevent the increasing incidence and seriousness of the series of the
crimes which have been taking place in many parts of the World. Individuals have been entrusted with
a number of duties, the breach of which may held them responsible. The act for which an individual is
responsible may also be attributed to a state where the individual acted a an agent of the staor on the
behalf of the state or in the name of the state or in simple de facto relationship. Thus individuals as
well as states may be responsible for the International crimes.
 EFFORTS FOR CREATION OF ICC

The earliest efforts for the creation of the international court was made by the committee of Jurists
which drafted the Statute of the Permanent Court of International justice in 1920 and recommended
for the establishment of an International Criminal Court to try crimes against ‘international public
order ‘ and ‘the universal law of nations’ with power to define these crimes and penalities therefore.
Later, the League of Nations drafted a convention for the establishment of the International Criminal
Court of five judges and five deputies of different nationalities to be elected by the Permanent Court
of International Justice . Since the convention did not come into force for want of ratification , the
attempt to establish the court failed .

With the establishment of the United Nations , proposal for the establishment of the court was made
with great enthusiasm . At the request of the General A ssembly in 1950 , the International Lwa
commission studied the desirability and possibility of crimes. The Commission concluded that the
establishment of ICC was both possible and desirable

In 1950 the General Assembly decided to create a committee on International Criminal Jurisdiction
(the Geneva Committee ) to prepare a draft .
 STATUTE OF THE ICC
Statute of the Court consists of 128 articles divide into 13 parts beside the Preamble. Article 1 lays
down that an International Criminal Court is hereby established . It shall be a permanent institution
and it shall have the powers to exercise jurisdiction over persons for the most serious of the crimes to
international concern . The court shall be brought into relationship with the United Nations through an
agreement to be approved by the Assembly of states Parties to the Statute ,and thereafter concluded by
the President of the court on its behalf. The seat of the Cort shall be established at the Hague in the
Netherlands .

The statute was opened for signature by all states on July 17.1998 . Article 126 of the statute provided
that the statute shall come into force after it has been ratified by 60 states . Accordingly , it came into
force on July 1, 2002 . By the end of November 2013 it had been ratified by 122 states. The court
was inaugurated on March 11, 2003 in the Hague with the swearing –in of the judges .

It is to be noted that United Nation played an important role in its conception , the Court is
independent from the United Nations and independent in the exercise of its jurisdiction from the
governments of the members of the United Nations. However , the United Nations and the Court are
united in their determination to bring an end to impunity for the most serious crimes known to
humanity .

The Court is fully functional Court. By September 2007 , the Court had four cases on its dockets . The
most high profile of these relates to Darfur. The President Omar-al Bashir is the First Sitting Head of
the state to be indicted by the court .
 JURISDICTION OF THE COURT
The court does not have universal jurisdiction. The court may only exercise jurisdiction if the accused
is a national of a state party or a state accepting the jurisdiction of the court ; the crime took place on
the territory of a state party or a state otherwise accepting the jurisdiction of the court; the United
Nations security council has referred situation to the prosecutor irrespective of the nationality of th
accused or location of crime

The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the international
community as a whole [Article5] The Court shall have jurisdiction with respect to following Crimes

a) The Crime of genocide

b) The Crimes against Humanity
c) War Crimes
d) The Crimes of Aggression

Genocide , for the purpose of the Statute means any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy in whole or part , a national, ethnical, racial or religious group , as suchas

a) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

b) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life to bring about physical
destruction in whole or in part
c) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
d) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group [Article6]

War Crimes means grave breaches of the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, committed
against
persons or property protected by the convention. For instance, wilfull killing, torture or inhuman
treatment, including biological experiments; wilfully causing grave suffering or serious injury to body
or health; extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessities
and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; compelling a prisoner of war and other protected person
to serve in the forces of a hostile power ; wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected
person of the rights of fair and regular trial; unlawful deportation or transferor unlawful
confinement and taking poof hostages[Article 8] . Other serious violations of the laws and customs
applicable in international law shall also be deemed as war crimes.

As to the crime of aggression , the court shall exercise jurisdiction only after it has been defined by
the Review Conference which shall be convened by the Secreatry – General of the United Nations ,
seven years after the entry into force of the Statute and if amendment is made . Further , blockades
of ports or coasts of a state by armed forces of another state, as well as an invasion or attack by
troops of one state on the territory of another , are considered as acts of aggression under the
Statute. It was agreed that the ICC can exercise the jurisdiction over the crime of aggression one year
after the ratification of the amendment by 30 states . This will however , not happen until at least
2017 when states meet again to review the amendment.
A state which becomes a party to the Statute thereby accepts the jurisdiction of the Court with respect
to other crimes . The Court shall have jurisdiction over the crimes which are committed on the
territory of the state party or aircraft [Article12] . The court shall also have jurisdiction over a person
if the accused of the crime is a national of a state party [Article12, Para 2 (b) ] The above provisions
imply that States by becoming parties to the Statute ispo facto , grant a consent a priori to the ICC
to exercise jurisdiction over the above crimes stipulated in Article 5 of the Statute. Those states which
are not party to the Statute, the Court has to obtain consent from the state concerned in order to
exercise jurisdiction. The court will have jurisdiction only over crimes committed after July 1 , 2002 ,
when the Statute entered into force. The Court may exercise its jurisdiction with respect to above
crimes:

a) If the crime is referred to the Prosecutor by a State Party for investigation

b) If the crime is referred to the Prosecutor by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the
Charter of the United Nations for investigation .
c) If the Prosecutor himself has initiated the investigation in respect of such a crime [Article 13

]The court shall have jurisdiction only with respect to those crimes which have been committed after
the entry into force of this Statute. If A state becomes a party to the Statute after its entry into force,
the Court may exercise its jurisdiction only with respect to crimes committed after the entry into force
of this Statute for that State , unless that state has made declaration ,lodged with the Registrar
,accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court with respect to the crime in question.

The Statute under article 26 states that the Court shall have no jurisdiction over any person who is
under the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged commission of a crime . Further, a person shall not
be criminally be responsible if, at the time of that person’s conduct the person suffers from mental
disease or defect that that destroys that person’s capacity to appreciate the unlawfulness or nature of
his conduct, or capacity to control his conduct to conform to requirements of law . A person shall also
not be criminally responsible if he is in a state of intoxication that destroys that person’s capacity to
appreciate the unlawfulness or nature of his conduct or capacity to control his conduct to conform to
requirements of law, unless the person has become voluntarily intoxicated under such circumstances
that the person knew , or disregarded the risk , that, as a result of intoxication , he is likely to engage
in conduct constituting a crime within the jurisdiction of the court .

The above implies that the court shall have jurisdiction over individuals who shall be responsible for
their crime . Article 25 expressly lays down that court shall have jurisdiction over natural persons. A
person who commits s a crime shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime
within the jurisdiction of the court if that person has:

a) Commits such a crime whether as an individual , jointly with another or through another person
b) Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact occurs or is attempted;
c) Provides, aids, abets or otherwise assists in the commission of the crime or in an attempted
commission ,including providing the means for its commission
d) Contributes to the commission or attempted commission of such a crime by a group of persons
acting with a common purpose
 e) Directly and publicly incites other to commit genocide

Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its execution by means of
substantial step, but the crime does not occur because of circumstances independent of person’s
intention[Article25]

PENALTIES
The Statute under Article 77 lays down that court may impose one of the following penalties on a
person convicted of a crime :

(a) Imprisonment for a specified no. of years which may not exceed a maximum of 30 years
(b) A term of life imprisonment when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the
individual circumstances of the convicted person

In addition to this the Court ,may order

(a) A fine under the criteria provide for in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence
(b) A forfeiture of proceeds , property and assets derived directly or indirectly from that crime ,
without prejudice to the rights of the bona fide buyer third parties . It is to be noted that the Court
does not have any enforcement powers .
(c) It can neither enforce its own arrest warrants nor its own judgements . The Court depends
primarily on the co-operation of the states and as a secondary resort to international and other
organizations.

LAW APPLIED BY IN COURT

Article 21 of the statute lays down the law which shall be applied by the Court . The Court shall apply
:

a) In the first place , the Statute , elements of Crime and the rules of procedure and evidence
b) In the second place , where appropriate, applicable treaties and principles and rules of
International law of armed conflict.
c) Failing that, general; principles of law derived by the Court from national laws of legal systems
of the world including as appropriate , the national laws of States that would normally exercise
jurisdiction over the crime , provided that these principles are not inconsistent with the Statute
and with international law and internationally recognized norms and standards . The application
and interpretation of law must be consistent with the internationally recognized human rights and
be without any adverse distinction founded on grounds such as gender, race , colour, language ,
religion or belief , political or other opinion , national , ethnic , or social origin, wealth , birth or
other status .

The principle of superior order has also been stated in the Statute under Article 33 which says that the
fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the court has been committed by a person pursuant to
Government or a superior , whether military or civilian shall not relieve that person of criminal
responsibility unless:
 a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the superior in
question
b) The person did not know that order was unlawful.
c) The order was not manifestly unlawful. The court also lays down that orders to commit
genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.

ADMISSIBILITY OF A CASE
Admissibility of acase is decide by the Court itself. A case shall be in admissible where

i. The case is being investigated or prosecuted by a state which has jurisdiction over it, unless the
State is unwilling or unable genuinely carry out the investigation or prosecution .
ii. The case has been investigated by state which has jurisdiction over it and state has decided not
to prosecute the person concerned , unless the decision resulted from the unwillingness or
inability of the state genuinely to prosecute.
iii. The person concerned has already been tried for court which is the subject of the complaint
iv. The case is not sufficient gravity to justify further action by the Court.

When the case has been admitted and the Prosecutor has determined that there would be a reasonable
basis to commence an investigation or when the prosecutor initiates the investigation ,the prosecutor
shall notify all the state parties and those states which, taking into account the information available
would exercise jurisdiction over the crimes concerned . a state within one month of the receipt of the
notice may inform the court that it is investigated or has investigated its nationals or others within its
jurisdiction with respect to criminal acts . At the request of that State , the prosecutor shall defer to the
state’s investigation of those persons unless the Pre Trial Chamber , on the application of the
Prosecutor decides to authorize the investigation .

The Court shall satisfy itself that it has jurisdiction in any case brought before it , and the Court may
on its own motion , determine the admissibility of a case Challenges to the admissibility of a case as
too jurisdiction of the court may be made by :

a) An accused or a person for whom the warrant of arrest or a summon to appear has been issued
b) A state which has jurisdiction over acase on the grounds that it has been investigating or
prosecuting the case or has investigated or prosecuted the case
c) A state from which acceptance of jurisdiction is required[Article19]

The Statute of the Court recognises the principle of ne bis in idem under the Article 20 which says
that no person shall be tried before the court with respec6t to conduct in prespect of which he has been
convicted or acquitted by the Court , and no person shall be tried before another court for a crime for
which that person has already been convicted or acquitted by the court. Further , no the seat i=oftried
by the court with respect to same conduct. [Article 20]

There are three chambers of the court which can also try the individual for the crime they have
committed :
1. PRE TRIAL CHAMBERS-: It is an organ of the court , performs a no. of functions so that the
person responsible for committing a crime may be brought for the court for trial . If the
Prosecutor concludes that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with a investigation , he shall
submit to the court Pre Trial Chamber a request fir authorization of an investigation , together
withb any supporting material collected . If the Chamber feels rthat there is reasonable basis the
case falls in its jurisdiction.
2. THE TRIAL CHAMBER : Article 62c of the Statute provides that unless otherwise decided
the place of the the trial shall be .seat of the court. The accused shall be present before the court
but if he distrupts the trial then the trial chamber may remove the accused and shall make
provision for him yo observe the trial and instruct the council from outside of the courtroom .
However such measures shall be taken only in exceptional cases.
3. THE APPEALS CHAMBER-: A decision of the trial chamber may be appealed by the
prosecutor on the grounds of procedural error , error of fact, or error of law the appeal shall be
made to the appeals chamber . If the appeals chamber finds that the proceedings appealed from
were unfair in a way that affected the reliability of the decision or sentence, or that decision or
sentence appealed from the materially affected by error of fact or law or procedural error, it may
reserve or amend the decision or sentence , or order a new trial before the Trial Chamber. If in
appeal against sentence the appeals chamber finds that the sentence is disproportionate to the
crime it may vary the sentence. The judgement of the Appeal’s Chamber shall be taken by
majority of the judges and shall be delivered in open Court . The judgement shall state the
reasons on which it is based .When there is no unanimity , the judgement of the appeals chamber
shall contain the views of the majority and the minority, but a judge may deliver a separate or
dissenting opinion on a question of law.