Rome Statute gives Security Council a deferral power

The General Assembly invited the International Law Commission to continue work on a draft code and a possible international criminal court. The work formed part of a longer, uneven effort to codify...

Delegates from 160 states, international organizations and civil society began the conference to negotiate a permanent criminal court. Newly independent and smaller states argued alongside major...

The Rome Statute was adopted by 120 votes to 7, with 21 abstentions. It created a permanent court with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, later extended to aggression....

After adoption, the Rome Statute opened for signature. Signature expressed intent to consider ratification but did not itself make a state a party. Several powerful states later stayed outside the...

Article 27 provides that official capacity, including that of a head of state or government, does not exempt a person from criminal responsibility before the Court. The rule rejects status-based...

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 Rome Statute entered into force, establishing the ICC as the first permanent treaty-based international criminal court. Its role is complementary: national jurisdictions retain primary...