The International Criminal Court (ICC) - Summary

See also ICC - History

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted on 17 July, 1998 by 120 votes in favour, 7 against (China, the United States, India, Israel, Bahrain, Qatar and Vietnam) and 21 abstentions. It entered into force on 1 July 2002. For more details, see ICC - History.
The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over the most heinous crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed after 1 July 2002.
The Court acts as a complementary institution to national criminal jurisdictions. It does not have primacy over national courts, and can only assume jurisdiction where States themselves do not act, or where their proceedings are not being taken «genuinely».

The Judges

The President of the Court: Judge Philippe Kirsch (Canada), elected for a 6 year period.
The First Vice President: Judge Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana), elected for a 3 year period.
The Second Vice President: Judge Elizabeth Odio Benito (Costa Rica), elected for a 9 year period.
The Assembly of States Parties elected the 18 judges of the Court for a term of office of three, six, and nine years. The 18 judges are: Judge Philippe KIRSCH (Canada), Judge Elizabeth ODIO BENITO (Costa Rica), Judge Karl T. HUDSON PHILLIPS (Trinidad and Tobago), Judge Claude JORDA (France), Judge Georghios M. PIKIS (Cyprus), Judge Tuiloma Neroni SLADE (Samoa), Judge Sang-Hyun SONG (Republic of Korea), Judge Maureen Harding CLARK (Ireland), Judge Fatoumata Dembele DIARRA (Mali), Judge Adrian FULFORD (United Kingdom), Judge Sylvia STEINER (Brasil), Judge Akua KUENYEHIA (Ghana), Judge Navanethem PILLAY (South Africa), Judge Hans-Peter KAUL (Germany), Judge Mauro POLITI (Italy), Judge René BLATTMANN (Bolivia), Judge Erkki KOURULA (Finland), and Judge Anita UŠACKA (Latvia).
The Court's judiciary is composed of three divisions : Appeals Division, Trial Division, Pre-Trial Division.

The Office of the Prosecutor

The Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, was unanimously elected on 21 April 2003 by the Assemby of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. He took office on 16 June 2003.
The Assembly of States Parties elected two Deputy Prosecutors, Mr. Serge Brammertz (Investigations) and Mrs. Fatou Bensouda (Prosecutions).

The Registry

Mr. Bruno Cathala (France) was elected on 24 June 2003 as Registrar of the International Criminal Court by an absolute majority of the judges meeting in plenary session. He will hold office for a term of five years.
The Registrar is responsible for the organisation of the Court's judicial proceedings and for its administrative and financial management.

The Defence

The Registry is responsible for creating a list of counsel authorised to act before the Court. This list will be used each time a person needs legal assistance before the Court.
The Code of Professional Conduct for counsel before the Interenational Criminal Court is underway.
The International Criminal Bar was created on 15 June 2002. It is presided by Paul-Albert Iweins, President of the Paris Bar, and Elise Groulx, President of the International Criminal Defense Attorneys Association (ACDAA).

Situations and cases

The Republic of Uganda: The first situation referred to the Prosecutor concerns the crimes committed since 1 July 2002 (when the Rome Statute entered into force) in Northern Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) which has been fighting the government for 20 years. The situation was referred by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on December 2003. On 29 July 2004, Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo concluded that there was a sufficient basis to initiate an investigation in respect of of the situation referred. At the end of 2004, President Yoweri Museveni proposed that the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in his country be tried before a truth and reconciliation commission, rather than before the International Criminal Court. Yet, the Rome Statute does not allow a State to backtrack and remove a situation from the Court. On 7 October 2005, the Ugandan Defense minister announced that « the *ICC+ investigation is complete ». The ICC has issue arrest warrants against 5 leaders of the LRA, including its chief, Joseph Kony, vice-commander Vincent Otti, and three lieutenants, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen.
The Democratic Republic of Congo: The second situation referred to the Prosecutor concerns the crimes committed since 1 July 2002 on the whole territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. These include collective rape, pillage, torture and cannibalism. This situation was referred in April 2004 by the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, the son of late President Laurent Kabila, who was killed on 17 January 2001. The Prosecutor, who closely followed the situation in the DRC since July 2003 and was about to start an investigation under his proprio motu powers, concluded in June 2004 that there was a reasonable basis to initiate the first investigation of the International Criminal Court. Prosecutor Ocampo stressed that the investigation will cover the whole territory and not only the Ituri region and will focus on the perpetrators most responsible for grave crimes under the ICC's jurisdiction.
The Central African Republic: The situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) is the third to be referred to the Prosecutor. In January 2005, the CAR government sent a letter to Luis Moreno Ocampo that pointed to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the whole territory since 1 July 2002, including crimes of sexual violence, specifically against women. From October 2002 to March 2003, an armed conflict in CAR opposed insurgents led by former army Chief of Staff and current President François Bozizé, and forces loyal to former President Ange-Félix Patassé.
Darfur (Sudan): The Security Council referred the Darfur situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on 31 March 2005 in Resolution 1593 (2005), after almost two months of negotiations over how to prosecute the crimes occurring in Darfur. The Resolution was voted in by 11-0 with four members abstaining: the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China. The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, chaired by the Italian judge Antonio Cassese, concluded in its report published on 31 January 2005 that crimes against humanity and war crimes such as killings, rape, pillaging and forced displacement have been committed since 1 July 2002 by the government-backed forces and the Janjaweed militia. It declared, however, that the government of Sudan was not pursuing a policy of genocide in Darfur.
IJT published in 2005

ICC: Kampala announces ICC's first arrest warrants, IJT 33, 10 October 2005.
Darfur: Sudan's legal response, IJT 28, 27 June 2005.
Darfur: ICC opens investigation; Uganda file: a fruit ripe for the picking, IJT 27, 13 June 2005.
ICC: Cambodia agrees to US immunity, IJT 26, 23 May 2005.
ICC: Sudan repeats «no», IJT 25, 9 May 2005.
Uganda-ICC: uturn, IJT 24, 25 April 2005.
International Criminal Court looks into Colombia, IJT 23, 11 April 2005.
Darfur: the ambiguities of the US exemption, IJT 23, 11 April 2005.
Judges and prosecutor argue over powers, IJT 22, 29 March 2005.
Sudan: Security Council to vote on ICC referral, IJT 22, 29 March 2005.
John Bolton and the ICC, IJT 21, 14 March 2005.
ICC-Darfur in deadlock, IJT 20, 21 February 2005.
African cases pile up for the ICC prosecutor, IJT 19, 7 February 2005.
ICC: after Central African Republic, Darfur?, IJT 18, 24 January 2005.

IJT published in 2004

Uganda: warning from Amnesty International, IJT 15, 22 November 2004.
ICC visits Colombia, IJT 13, 18 October 2004.
A comfortable budget, but a lack of passion, IJT 11, 20 September 2004.
Burundi: rebels ready to face trial, IJT 10, 6 September 2004.
Will the ICC have the means to match its ambitions?, IJT 10, 6 September 2004.
Ugandan and Congo cases go hand in hand before the ICC, IJT 9, 19 July 2004.
ICC: Washington withdraws exemption bid, IJT 8, 5 July 2004.
ICC joins the Congolese chess game, IJT 8, 5 July 2004.
American immunity: the unjustifiable resolution, IJT 7, 21 June 2004.
Washington seeks majority vote on Resolution 1487, IJT 7, 21 June 2004.
ICC sets up compensation fund, IJT 3, 19 April 2004.
Pitfalls of the Uganda case before the ICC, IJT 1, 15 March 2004.