International Criminal Court begins operation

Article 16 permits the Security Council to defer an investigation or prosecution for renewable 12-month periods under Chapter VII. The provision connected the Court to a political body in which five...

The Statute frames the Court as complementary to national criminal jurisdictions: a case is generally inadmissible when a state is genuinely investigating or prosecuting it. This design protects...

Senegal deposited the first instrument of ratification, signaling early African support for a permanent court. The milestone complicates accounts that treat Africa only as the object of ICC action:...

The signature period ended with 139 signatories. A signature did not equal ratification. The United States signed on the final day under President Bill Clinton, but did not submit the treaty for...

Ten states deposited ratifications in a coordinated ceremony, bringing the total to 66 and triggering the treaty’s entry into force. The Court’s jurisdiction would generally apply only to crimes...

The Assembly of States Parties held its first session and began establishing the Court’s budgetary, administrative and oversight arrangements. Member states became the institution’s principal...

The Assembly created the Trust Fund for Victims under Rome Statute article 79. The Fund can implement reparations ordered by the Court and provide assistance to victims and families, extending the...

The elected judges took office at the Court’s inaugural session in The Hague. The Court began building an institution with chambers, a prosecutor, registry, defence counsel system and victims’...

The Assembly of States Parties elected Argentine jurist Luis Moreno Ocampo as the first Prosecutor. His office would decide which situations to investigate within the jurisdiction conferred by the...

The Prosecutor opened an investigation after the DRC referred its situation. The first ICC case concerned recruitment and use of child soldiers by Thomas Lubanga. The case demonstrated the Court’s...