The International Criminal Court

Official Website: http://www.icc-cpi.int/home.html

The Rome Statute [PDF Format]: http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/about/officialjournal/Rome_Statute_English.pdf

The State Parties to the Rome Statute: http://www.icc-cpi.int/statesparties.html


THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

• the court is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern;

• these crimes are namely: genocide, crimes against humainity, war crimes and aggression;

• this Court is established by the Rome Statute treaty;

• the treaty was called such since it was adopted in Rome in July 17, 1998 and have entered into force in July 1, 2002;

• the ICC is based on that treaty joined by originally 60 States;

• as of July 2008, a total of 106 countries have become Parties to the Rome Statute;

• sadly, the Philippines was a signatory to the treaty;

• the Rome Statute is an international treaty, binding only on those States which formally express their consent to be bound by its provisions;

• it is no surprise that the United States of America was not a signatory thereto considering their leaders are such abusive war freaks;

• It is a court of last resort, meaning, it will not act if a case is investigated or prosecuted by a national judicial system unless the national proceedings are not genuine;

• not genuine proceeding consists of shielding of person concerned, unjustified delay and the proceeding in the national court was not impartially conducted;

• the ICC has four organs, to wit, the Presidency, the Judiciary Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry;

• the Presidency consists of the President[currently Philippe Kirsch from Canada], the First Vice-President [currently Akua Kuenyehia from Ghana] and the Second Vice-President [currently Rene Blattmann from Bolivia];

• the Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court, with the exception of the Office of the Prosecutor. However, the Presidency shall coordinate with and seek the concurrence of the Prosecutor on all matters of mutual concern;

• the Judiciary Divisions of the ICC are the: Pre-trial division, Trial Division and the Appeals division;

• the Appeals Division is composed of the President and four other judges, the Trial Division of the Second Vice President and five other judges, and the Pre-Trial Divisions of the First Vice President and six other judges;

• the Office of the Prosecutor shall act independently as a separate organ of the Court. It shall be responsible for receiving referrals and any substantiated information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court, for examining them and for conducting investigations and prosecutions before the Court;

• the Registry shall be responsible for the non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the Court, without prejudice to the functions and powers of the Prosecutor;

• the Court can generally 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 official seat of the Court is in The Hague, Netherlands, but its proceedings may take place anywhere;a