ICC (International Criminal Court)
Overview:
| ICC Established: | 1st July 2002. |
| ICC Headquarters: | The Hague, the Netherlands. |
| ICC Members: | 123 Member countries. |
| ICC Objective: | ICC prosecutes individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. |
| Organization Type: | International Court. |
What is ICC?
ICC stands for International Criminal Court. The ICC investigates and where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community, such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
Under the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice, which is an organ of the United Nations and hears disputes between the states.
ICC Establishment:
The Rome Statute was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998, and the International Criminal Court was established on 1st July 2002, and the treaty came into force.
The ICC held its first hearing in 2006, concerning war crimes charges against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese warlord accused of recruiting child soldiers.
ICC Headquarters:
The headquarters of the ICC is situated in the Hague, the Netherlands. And 1 ICC Liaison Office to the United Nations in New York (the United States), and 7 ICC Country Offices in Kinshasa and Bunia (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Kampala (Uganda), Bangui (Central African Republic), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Tbilisi (Georgia), and Bamako (Mali).
ICC Objectives:
The ICC prosecutes individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.
ICC Members:
Currently, 123 countries are State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Out of them, 33 are from African States, 19 are from Asia-Pacific States, 18 are from Eastern Europe, 28 are from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western European and other States.
However, Russia is not a member of the ICC because Russia withdrew its signature from the Rome Statute in 2016 and is not a participant in the ICC nor under its jurisdiction, however, Putin can be arrested if he travels to any other country which ratified the ICC statute and is a member of the ICC.
Let me inform you that Putin became the first head of state of any Permanent Member of the U.N. Security Council to be the subject of an ICC arrest warrant.
Official Languages:
The ICC has 6 official languages English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. However, ICC has only two working languages English and French.
ICC Employees:
The ICC has over 900 employees from approximately 100 countries.
Organizational Structure:
The ICC has four principal organs, the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry.
The Presidency: The 18 judges of ICC are elected by the Assembly of States Parties and serve 9-year, non-renewable terms. The ICC President and two Vice-Presidents are elected by the 18 judges.
The Judicial Division: The Judicial Division is composed of 18 judges and hears cases before the Court.
The Office of the Prosecutor: It is an independent organ of the Court and is headed by the Prosecutor. The Office of the Prosecutor is carrying out investigations and prosecutions against the individuals who are allegedly most responsible for the crimes.
The Registry: The Registry is a neutral organ of the Court that manages all the administrative functions, including the headquarters, detention unit, and public defence office.
Accused Individuals till now:
The ICC indicted dozens of individuals till now, including Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, former President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Libyan head of state Muammar Gaddafi, President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast and former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Republic of the Congo.
On 17 March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia Maria Lvova Belova for child abductions in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Funding:
The ICC is funded by the member countries according to their capacity. A single country can pay a maximum of 22% of the Court's budget in a year.