The International Criminal Court

1. Key features

1.1. -Participating victims and witnesses are protected

1.2. -Victims voices are heard

1.3. -Trials are fair

1.4. -The prosecution is independent

1.5. -Defendants' rights are upheld

1.6. -Outreach creates two way dialogue

2. Backup

2.1. ​​The Court cannot reach these goals alone. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.

3. How the Court works

3.1. The Court's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute, grants the ICC jurisdiction over four main crimes.

3.1.1. crime of genocide

3.1.1.1. characterized by the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing its members or by other means: causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

3.1.2. crimes against humanity

3.1.2.1. serious violations committed as part of a large-scale attack against any civilian population. The 15 forms of crimes against humanity listed in the Rome Statute include offences such as murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, enslavement – particularly of women and children, sexual slavery, torture, apartheid and deportation.

3.1.3. war crimes

3.1.3.1. grave breaches of the Geneva conventions in the context of armed conflict and include, for instance, the use of child soldiers; the killing or torture of persons such as civilians or prisoners of war; intentionally directing attacks against hospitals, historic monuments, or buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes.

3.1.4. crime of aggression

3.1.4.1. use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, integrity or independence of another State

4. Jurisdiction

4.1. The Court may exercise jurisdiction in a situation where genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes were committed on or after 1 July 2002

4.1.1. the crimes were committed by a State Party national, or in the territory of a State Party, or in a State that has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court;

4.1.2. the crimes were referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) pursuant to a resolution adopted under chapter VII of the UN charter.

5. Organs of the ICC

5.1. Presidency

5.2. Judicial divisons

5.3. OTP

5.4. Registry

6. Judges of the court

6.1. Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji,

6.2. Judge Robert Fremr

6.3. Judge Kuniko Ozaki

6.4. Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut

6.5. Judge Olga Venecia del C. Herrera Carbuccia

6.6. Judge Geoffrey A. Henderson

6.7. Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua

6.8. Judge Bertram Schmitt

6.9. Judge Piotr Hofmański

6.10. Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou

6.11. Judge Raul Cano Pangalangan

6.12. Judge Tomoko Akane

6.13. Judge Péter Kovács

6.14. Judge Kimberly Prost

6.15. Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala

6.16. Judge Cuno Jakob Tarfusser

6.17. Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza

6.18. Judge Howard Morrison

6.19. Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa

6.20. Judge Chang-ho Chung

6.21. Judges are elected to the ICC by the Assembly of States Parties, the court's governing body. They serve nine-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election. By the time of their election, all judges must be nationals of states parties to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state.

7. Madeline Mahan

8. Definition

8.1. The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

9. Goal

9.1. The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.

10. Logistics

10.1. There have thus far been 30 cases before the Court, with some cases having more than one suspect.

10.2. Headquarters: The Hague, the Netherlands.

10.3. Over 900 staff members: From approximately 100 States.

10.4. 6 official languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

10.5. 2020 budget: €149,205,600

11. Legal process features

11.1. The ICC does not prosecute those under the age of 18 when a crime was committed.

11.2. Before the Prosecutor can investigate, she must conduct a preliminary examination considering such matters as sufficient evidence, jurisdiction, gravity, complementarity, and the interests of justice.

11.3. When investigating, the Prosecutor must collect and disclose both incriminating and exonerating evidence.

11.4. The defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof lies with the Prosecutor.

11.5. During all stages of proceedings (Pre-Trial, Trial and Appeals), the defendant has the right to information in a language he or she fully understands, thus the ICC proceedings are conducted in multiple languages, with teams of interpreters and translators at work.

11.6. Pre-Trial judges issue warrants of arrest and ensure there is enough evidence before a case can go to trial.

11.7. Before a case is committed to trial (during the Pre-Trial phase), the defendant is referred to as a suspect. Once the case is committed to trial, since at that point the charges have been confirmed, the defendant is referred to as the accused.

11.8. Trial judges hear the evidence from the Prosecutor, Defence, and the Victims’ lawyers, render a verdict, and if a person is found guilty, the sentence and decision on reparations.

11.9. Appeals judges render decisions on appeals from the Prosecutor or Defence.

11.10. If a case is closed without a verdict of guilt, it can be reopened if the Prosecutor presents new evidence.

12. Examples of cases

12.1. After the 2007 elections in Kenya, widespread violence ensued, resulting in over 1000 dead, 600,000 displaced and hundreds sexually assaulted. In March 2010, the ICC started its investigation into alleged crimes committed during the post-election period.

12.2. In January 2016, the ICC opened an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed between 1 July and 10 October 2008 by all parties to the South Ossetia conflict, including Georgia, Russia and South Ossetian separatist rebel

13. The ICC was established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998, and it began sittings on July 1, 2002, after 60 countries had ratified the Rome Statute. To date, some 120 countries have ratified it.