Security Council refers Darfur to the ICC

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...

Following Uganda’s self-referral, the Prosecutor opened the Court’s first investigation, focused on the Lord’s Resistance Army. The referral enabled ICC action but narrowed the initial focus toward...

The Court unsealed warrants for five senior LRA figures, including Joseph Kony. The warrants marked the Court’s first arrest requests. Their practical force depended on governments capturing and...

DRC authorities transferred Lubanga to The Hague, making him the first person detained by the ICC. His trial concerned conscripting and enlisting children under 15 and using them in hostilities. The...

Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed charges of conscripting, enlisting and using children under 15 in hostilities. This was the first confirmation of charges in ICC history. The Court’s narrow charge...

The Prosecutor applied for a warrant against Sudan’s sitting president on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegations. The request brought head-of-state immunity, Security Council...

The judges issued a warrant for al-Bashir on crimes against humanity and war crimes charges. It was the first ICC warrant against a sitting head of state. The Court’s dependence on states to arrest...