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Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
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The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often referred to as the International Criminal Court Statute or the Rome Statute) is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of January 2009, 108 states are party to the statute. Among other things, the statute establishes the court's functions, jurisdiction and structure.
owing years of negotiations aimed at establishing a permanent international tribunal to punish individuals who commit genocide and other serious international crimes, the United Nations General Assembly convened a five-week diplomatic conference in Rome in June 1998 "to finalize and adopt a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court".
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Encyclopedia
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often referred to as the International Criminal Court Statute or the Rome Statute) is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of January 2009, 108 states are party to the statute. Among other things, the statute establishes the court's functions, jurisdiction and structure.
History
Following years of negotiations aimed at establishing a permanent international tribunal to punish individuals who commit genocide and other serious international crimes, the United Nations General Assembly convened a five-week diplomatic conference in Rome in June 1998 "to finalize and adopt a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court". On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were Iraq, Israel, Libya, the People's Republic of China, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.
Article 126 of the statute provided that it would enter into force shortly after the number of states that had ratified it reached sixty. This happened on 11 April 2002, when ten countries ratified the statute at the same time at a special ceremony held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The treaty entered into force on 1 July 2002; the ICC can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date.
Ratification status
As of January 2009, 108 countries are party to the Rome Statute, including nearly all of Europe and South America, and roughly half the countries in Africa.
A further 40 states have signed but not ratified the treaty; the law of treaties obliges these states to refrain from “acts which would defeat the object and purpose” of the treaty. In 2002, two of these states, the United States and Israel, "unsigned" the Rome Statute, indicating that they no longer intend to become states parties and, as such, they have no legal obligations arising from their signature of the statute.
Review and amendment
Any amendment to the Rome Statute requires the support of a two-thirds majority of the states parties, and an amendment will not enter into force until it has been ratified by seven-eighths of the states parties. Any amendment to the list of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court will only apply to those states parties that have ratified it.
The states parties are due to hold a Review Conference in the first half of 2010 to consider amendments to the statute. The Review Conference is likely to adopt a definition of the crime of aggression, thereby allowing the ICC to exercise jurisdiction over the crime for the first time.
See also
Further reading
- Antonio Cassese, Paola Gaeta & John R.W.D. Jones (eds.), The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2002). ISBN 978-0-19-829862-5.
- Roy S Lee (ed.), The International Criminal Court: The Making of the Rome Statute. The Hague: Kluwer Law International (1999). ISBN 90-411-1212-X.
- Roy S Lee & Hakan Friman (eds.), The International Criminal Court: Elements of Crimes and Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers (2001). ISBN 1-57105-209-7.
- William A Schabas, An Introduction to the International Criminal Court (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2004). ISBN 0-521-01149-3.
External links
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- — United Nations website
- — speeches, press releases, photos and other materials from the conference that adopted the Statute
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