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General Information
International Criminal Court

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted on 17th July 1998 at the end of a diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries organised by the United Nations.

The idea of an International Criminal Court was revived in the 19th century by Gustave Moynier to judge violations of the Geneva Convention of 1864.

After the failure of the attempts to establish an International Tribunal after the First World War, the Tribunals of Nuremberg and Tokyo effectively functioned as such after the Second World War and convicted several dozen people, thus laying the foundations for international criminal justice.

The ad hoc Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, which have now been operating for nearly ten years, have shown the usefulness and the need for international criminal justice. In so doing, they have paved the way for the creation of a permanent Court.

In 1989, Trinidad and Tobago proposed to the United Nations the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court to bring prosecutions for drug trafficking.

But it was in 1995 that the negotiations on The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court began at the United Nations, based on a draft statute prepared and then adopted by the International Law Commission in July 1994. At the initiative of the United Nations' General Assembly, an ad hoc committee sat twice in 1995 in New York at United Nations Headquarters to debate the draft statute by the International Law Commission. At the end of 1995, the United Nations' General Assembly decided to create a Preparatory Committee to work out a draft Statute to be submitted to a diplomatic conference. This Preparatory Committee then met twice in 1996, three times in 1997, then one last time in March/April 1998 to finalise a draft Statute. All the Member States of the Nations took part in these negotiations and tabled numerous proposals.

The Statute was finally adopted in Rome in July 1998. It comprises thirteen parts and is particularly detailed.

Part I concerns the setting up of the Court and in particular provides for the Court to be a permanent body which, independent of the United Nations, is bound to it by an Agreement which must be concluded by the Court’s Presiding Judge. This Agreement was approved by the Assembly of States Parties to the Statute of Rome in September 2002. This part also provides for the Court to be based at The Hague in the Netherlands, but that it can sit elsewhere if it considers this desirable.

Part II of the Statute relates to the competence of the Court, which is restricted to the gravest crimes affecting the entire international community, in other words, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Court is only competent in respect of crimes committed after its Statute came into effect, that is, 1st July 2002. Cases may be submitted to it either by the Security Council, or by a State Party, or by the ex-officio Prosecutor, acting on the basis of information received in particular from victims, NGOs or other sources it considers appropriate. When cases are submitted to the Court either by a State Party or by the Prosecutor acting in an ex-officio capacity, it may only exercise its competence when the State on whose territory the crimes took place or the State of which the person accused of the crime is a citizen have either ratified the Statute or accepted the Court’s competence by means of a declaration filed with the Court Registrar. Without doubt, the most important principle of the Statute of Rome is that the Court complements national jurisdictions and that it may only exercise its jurisdiction if the States concerned are unable or unwilling to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes which fall within the competence of the Court.

Part III concerns the general principles of criminal law and provides for the criminal responsibility of individuals, and the criminal responsibility of States or of legal entities (associations, companies) excluded from the Court’s competence. It should also be clearly stated that the Court is only competent in regard to people aged over 18 at the time of the acts. The position of a Head of State or Head of Government or any other official position does not prevent the Court from exercising its competence in regard to that person.  

Statutory limitations do not apply to the crimes falling within the competence of the Court and the Statute lastly provides for the responsibility of military chiefs and civilian superiors in respect of crimes committed by their subordinates when, knowing about these crimes, they did not take the necessary measures to prevent them from being carried out or to quell them.

Part IV concerns the composition and administration of the Court and provides for the Court to be comprised of 18 Judges, one Prosecutor and one Court Registrar. The Judges and Prosecutor are elected by the Assembly of States Parties, whereas the Court Registrar is elected by the Judges. The organs of the Court are the Presidency consisting of the President and the First and Second Vice-Presidents, the Appeals Court, the Trials Court and the Pre-Trial Chamber, the Prosecutor's Office and the Registry. The working languages of the Court are English and French. The official languages are English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French and Russian.

Part V concerns investigations and prosecutions, and provides for the opening of investigations to be the responsibility of the Prosecutor under the control of the Pre-Trial Chamber comprised of one or three judges, depending on the functions involved. The Prosecutor must conduct pre-trial hearings of witnesses for both the prosecution and the defence. The Pre-Trial Chamber alone is responsible for issuing arrest warrants and summonses to appear before the Court. The investigations and prosecutions phase ends with a confirmation hearing of the charges before the Pre-Trial Chamber, which must decide whether or not to confirm the charges and transfer the defendant to the Trial Court.

Part VI concerns the trial, which is conducted before a Trial Court made up of three Judges. The trial may not take place in the absence of the accused, as proceedings in absentia are not viable before the International Criminal Court. The rights of the accused and the victims are read out in detail: the accused is, in particular, entitled to the free assistance of a defence lawyer if he is unable to pay for one and victims are entitled to make submissions and to be represented by counsel. The Victim and Witness Support Division is responsible, within the Registry, for providing support and assistance for the witnesses and victims who appear before the Court. The decision regarding guilt is taken by a majority of the judges. For the first time in the history of international criminal justice, the International Criminal Court has the authority to grant compensation to victims, which can include restitution, indemnification or rehabilitation.

Part VII concerns the enforceable penalties. As the death penalty is excluded, life imprisonment is the highest penalty which may be handed down. The Court may add a fine to this prison sentence as well as the confiscation of profits, property or assets directly or indirectly gained from the crime committed. The Court may order that the proceeds from these fines and confiscations be paid into a Fund for the benefit of victims and their families which was created by the Assembly of States Parties in September 2002 as provided for in the Rome Statute.

Part VIII concerns appeal and review. Appeals are brought before the Court of Appeal, consisting of five Judges. A person pronounced guilty may submit an appeal before the Court of Appeal to review a decision concerning a final sentence, particularly if a new fact comes to light. Finally, there is provision that the Court may compensate people arrested or sentenced and subsequently pronounced innocent.

Part IX concerns international co-operation and legal assistance and provides that the States Parties must co-operate fully with the Court, especially with regard to handing over people prosecuted by the Tribunal or seeking items of evidence. In order to comply with this, in their national legislation the States Parties must provide for procedures enabling these forms of co-operation to be set up. The Court may also request the co-operation on an ad hoc basis of States which are not parties to the Statute, or the co-operation of inter-governmental organisations.

Part X concerns execution of the penalties and confiscation measures and provides for the prison sentences to be carried out in a State appointed by the Court from the list of States that have stated they are willing to accept those who are convicted. The Court alone is empowered to decide to reduce a sentence and it must re-examine this sentence to determine whether there is reason to reduce it when the person has served two-thirds of his sentence or, in the case of life imprisonment, when that person has already served 25 years' imprisonment. The Court may not re-examine a sentence before these terms.

Part XI concerns the Assembly of States Parties, which is composed of one representative per State Party. Each State Party has one vote. The other States which have either signed the Statute or signed the Final Act of the Rome Diplomatic Conference may sit on the Assembly as observers. This Assembly is responsible for electing the Judges and Prosecutor, adopting the Court’s budget and of deciding, if necessary, to increase the number of Judges. The Assembly of States Parties also plays an important legislative role, since it is responsible for adopting the Court’s rules of procedure and evidence as well as the Elements of Crimes. The Assembly meets at least once a year. The Assembly has its own Office, consisting of a President, two vice-presidents and 18 members.

Part XII concerns financing and provides for the Court’s costs to be funded by compulsory contributions by the States Parties and, subject to approval by the General Assembly, by financial resources provided by the United Nations, especially in regard to costs associated with the submission of a case to the Court by the Security Council. The contributions by the States Parties are calculated according to a scale of shares based on the United Nations' scale for its ordinary budget. The Court can also accept voluntary contributions from Governments, international organisations, private individuals, companies or other entities.

Part XIII concerns the final clauses and provides that the General Secretary of the United Nations shall convene a conference to review the Statute seven years after it comes into force, that is, in 2009. The Court’s Statute allows no reservations. Finally, article 126 provides for the Statute to come into force after the submission of sixty instruments of ratification. Accordingly, the Rome Statute came into force on 1st July 2002. On 25th February 2003, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was ratified by 89 States from all continents.