Articles
International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The International Criminal Court was established in July 1, 2002. This was the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force. Following the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals in 1948, it became apparent to the UN General Assembly that there as a need for permanent international court to deal with atrocities of the kind committed during WWII. At the request of the General Assembly, the International Law Commission drafted two statutes by the early 1950s however both were left aside due to the Cold War. This idea was then revived in 1989; by A.N. R. Robinson, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who proposed the creation of a permanent international court to deal with the illegal drug trade.

While this was happening, there were several ad hoc tribunals to try war crimes in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which further cemented the need for a permanent international criminal court.

The International Criminal Court can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date. The International Criminal Court is located in The Hague, Netherlands but its proceedings may take place elsewhere. As of now (February 2009), there are 108 members of the court and 50 countries that have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. The court can exercise jurisdiction only in cases where the accused is a national of a state party, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party, or a situation is referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council. The purpose of the International Court of justice is to complement existing national judicial systems; it can only exercise its jurisdiction when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute such crimes.

From its conception in July 2002, the International Criminal Court has opened four investigations: Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Darfur. The International Criminal Court has issued public arrest warrants for twelve people of whom six remain free, two have died, and four are in custody.

Currently under the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over four groups of crimes which are genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Many states would like to ass terrorism and drug trafficking to the list of crimes that the International Criminal Court has jurisdictions over. However this has been a topic of dissention as countries are not able to agree on a definition for terrorism and it was decided not to include drug trafficking as this may overwhelm the International Criminal Court's limited resources.

As previously stated, there is a need for an International Criminal Court as there are certain national crimes that must be tried on global grounds. In areas mentioned above such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are atrocities being committed and it is absolutely imperative that countries agree to the Rome Statute so that those who are guilty of committing crimes are tried and punished.