THE INTERNATIONAL

CRIMINAL COURT

BY: ADITI INDRANI

ANKIT ANANd

ABOUT THE COURT:

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed
by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty
based, international criminal court established to
help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most
serious crimes of concern to the international
community.
The ICC is an independent international
organization, and is not part of the United Nations
system.
Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands.
The ICC has thejurisdictionto prosecute
individuals for theinternational crimes ofgenocide,
crimes against humanity, andwar crimes.

CONTD..

The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the

date that theRome Statute entered into force.
The Rome Statute is amultilateral treatywhich
serves as the ICC's foundational and governing
document.
States which become party to the Rome Statute,
by ratifying it, become member states of the ICC.
Currently, there are123 stateswhich are party
to the Rome Statute and therefore members of
the ICC.
Although the Courts expenses are funded
primarily by States Parties, it also receives
voluntary contributions from governments,
international organizations, individuals,
corporations and other entities.

HISTORY OF THE COURT:

In the 1990s after the end of the Cold War,
tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda were the
result of consensus that impunity is unacceptable.
This was because they were established to try
crimes committed only within a specific time frame
and during a specific conflict.
Then, there was general agreement that an
independent, permanent criminal court was
needed.
On 17 July 1998, the international community
reached an historic milestone when 120 States
adopted the Rome Statute.

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The Rome Statute entered into force 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.
The Court issued its firstarrest warrantson 8
July 2005, and the first pre-trial hearings were
held in 2006.
The Court issued its first judgment in 2012 when
it found Congolese rebel leaderThomas Lubanga
Dyiloguilty of war crimes related tousing child
soldiers.

STRUCTURE OF THE COURT:

The Court is composed of four organs. These are
the Presidency, the judicial Divisions, the Office of
the Prosecutor and the Registry.
a) Presidency: ThePresidency is responsible for
the overall administration of the Court. It is
composed of three judges of the Court, elected to
the Presidency by their fellow judges, for a term of
three years
b) Judicial Divisions: TheJudicial
Divisionsconsist of eighteen judges organized
into the Pre-Trial Division, the Trial Division and
the Appeals Division. The judges of each Division
sit in Chambers which are responsible for
conducting the proceedings of the Court at
different stages.

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a)

b)

Office of theProsecutor: TheOffice of the

Prosecutoris responsible for receiving referrals
and any substantiated information on crimes
within the jurisdiction of the Court, for examining
them and for conducting investigations and
prosecutions before the Court.
Registry: TheRegistryis responsible for the
non-judicial aspects of the administration and
servicing of the Court. The Registry is headed by
the Registrar who is the principal administrative
officer of the Court.

WHAT IS THE COURT DESIGNED TO

DO?
To prosecute and bring to justice those responsible
for the worst crimes such as, genocide, crimes
against humanity, and war crimes.
The court has global jurisdiction.
It is a court of last resort, intervening only when
national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.

JURISDICTION:
The Court may exercise jurisdiction over genocide,
crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Courts jurisdiction is limited to events taking
place since 1st July 2002, if a State joins the Court
after 1st July 2002, the Court only has jurisdiction
after the Statute entered into force for that State.
The Court may only exercise jurisdiction if, the
accused is a national of a State Party or a State
otherwise accepting the jurisdiction of the Court
Or, the crime took place on the territory of a State
Party or a State otherwise accepting the
jurisdiction of the Court.

HOW DOES THE COURT FUNCTIONS?

The ICC has no police force of its own to track down
and arrest suspects. Instead it rely on national police
services to make arrests and seek their transfer to
The Hague.
The prosecutor begins an investigation if a case is
referred either by the UN Security Council or by a
ratifying state.
He or she can also take independent action, but
prosecutions have to be approved by a panel of judges.
Both the prosecutor and the judges are elected by the
states taking part in the court. Luis Moreno Ocampo
of Argentina was the first chief prosecutor of the
court. He has been replaced by Ms Bensouda.
Each state has a right to nominate one candidate for
election as a judge.

ICC AND UNITED NATIONS:

Unlike theInternational Court of Justice, the ICC
is legally independent from the United Nations.
However, the Rome Statute grants certain powers
to theUnited Nations Security Council, which
limits its functional independence.
Article 13 allows the Security Council to refer to
the Court situations that would not otherwise fall
under the Court's jurisdiction.
Article 16 allows the Security Council to require
the Court to defer from investigating a case for a
period of 12 months.
The relationship between the Court and the UN is
governed by a Relationship Agreement between
the International Criminal Court and theUnited
Nations.

CRITICISM:
The ICC has been accused of bias and as being a
tool of Westernimperialism, only punishing
leaders from small, weak states while ignoring
crimes committed by richer and more powerful
states.
This sentiment has been expressed particularly by
African leaders due to an alleged disproportionate
focus of the Court on Africa.
Critics of the Court also 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"