The International Criminal Court (ICC) was born out of the desire to have a universal court that would try the most heinous and serious of crimes committed.  It was established in order to provide the world with a court of last resort which would have the mandate of bringing to justice those suspected of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC would be a permanent court which would replace the ad-hoc tribunals that have occurred after atrocities were committed, for example, the Nuremburg trials and the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

On 17 July 1998, 120 states adopted the Rome Statute. This statute provides the legal basis for the court and effectively established the Court. In early 2002, the required amount of 60 states then ratified the Statute of the International Criminal Court, and thus initiated the establishment of the ICC. The statute has since been ratified by a myriad of other states, so that today 106 states are party to the Court, including Britain.

The Court is sanctioned with the power to carry out trials if a member state’s judicial system proves unable, or unwilling to carry out the process. The Court is also authorised to take action if trials taking place in a nation state are deemed to be carried out solely for superficial functions and not with the aim of genuine prosecution. The ICC is an independent international organisation which is not affiliated with any state or organisation including the United Nations and is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.

In particular, the relationship between the ICC and the United States has been rather contentious. The US is controversially, although somewhat predictably opposed to the idea of the Court. It is not a member party and has remained sceptical about its activity.  However, in the case of Sudan, the US seemingly put aside its reservations by abstaining from voting on Resolution 1593 rather than vetoing the move, although former US envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios has made his ‘reservations’ about the ICC clear on more than one occasion and the US has been keen to reiterate its status as a non-party state.

How the court works

The Court stipulates that no person over the age of 18 will be granted immunity regardless of his/her status or role within a given country. Commanders and heads of the military can be held accountable for acts carried out by persons under their command if it is considered that these actions were taken with their approval. For the first time in the history of international judicial proceedings victims of the crimes committed may have a role in the trial and exact reparations.

The whole process begins with an investigation. The ICC Prosecutor can commence an investigation into a suspected crime based either upon a referral by a nation state, by the UN Security Council or by him/herself if there is deemed to be reliable evidence and on condition of prior consent by the Pre-Trial Chamber. The current prosecutor is Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina who was elected by the Assembly of State Parties, which consists of representatives of all member states.

The Pre-Trial Chamber can then issue an arrest warrant or a summons to court based upon the evidence collated by the prosecutor and submitted to the Chamber. When the suspect goes to trial, the Trial chamber decides upon the case and has the power to convict the suspect and order reparations to victims. This process can take a matter of years.

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