Rome Statute

The Rome Statute is the foundation of the International Criminal Court. It sets out its functions, structure and jurisdiction. The Rome Statute was adopted on 17 July 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002. Currently, 123 countries are State Parties to the Rome Statute.

Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

The ICC has only jurisdiction for the following core international crimes:

1. Genocide (article 6)
2. Crimes Against Humanity (article 7)
3. War Crimes (article 8)
4. The crime of Aggression (article 8bis)

The jurisdiction is limited to situations where state parties are unwilling or unable to prosecute. This is called the principle of complementarity. Furthermore,  the court has only jurisdiction over either crimes committed on the territory of a State Party or when crimes have been committed by a national of a State Party. The ICC may further invoke jurisdiction over the above mentioned crimes if it is authorized by the United Nations Security Council.

The Rome Statute provides the most modern set of rules

The importance of the Rome Statute lies, amongst other things, in the fact that it contains the last and most comprehensive codification (in other words: description) of core international crimes. It also builds on the existing (customary) law and experiences of the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Content of the Rome Statue

The Rome Statute contains a preamble and 13 parts:

1. Establishment of the Court
2. Jurisdiction, admissibility and applicable law
3. General principles of criminal law
4. Composition and administration of the court
5. Investigation and prosecution
6. The trial
7. Penalties
8. Appeal and revision
9. International cooperation and judicial assistance
10. Enforcement
11. Assembly of states parties
12. Financing
13. Final clauses