The International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system. Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands. Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

The international community has long aspired to the creation of a permanent international court, and, in the 20th century, it reached consensus on definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials addressed war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War.

In the 1990s after the end of the Cold War, tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda were the result of consensus that impunity is unacceptable. However, because they were established to try crimes committed only within a specific time-frame and during a specific conflict, there was general agreement that an independent, permanent criminal court was needed. 

On 17 July 1998, the international community reached an historic milestone when 120 States adopted the Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing the permanent International Criminal Court.

The Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries.

Structure of the Court

·         Presidency

·         The Presidency is responsible for the overall administration of the Court, with the exception of the Office of the Prosecutor, and for specific functions assigned to the Presidency in accordance with the Statute. The Presidency is composed of three judges of the Court, elected to the Presidency by their fellow judges, for a term of three years. The President of the Court is Judge Silvia Alejandra FERNÁNDEZ DE GURMENDI (Argentina). Judge Joyce ALUOCH (Kenya) is First Vice-President, and Judge Kuniko OZAKI (Japan) is Second Vice-President.

·         Judicial Divisions

·          The Judicial Divisions consist of eighteen judges organized into the Pre-Trial Division, the Trial Division and the Appeals Division.  The judges of each Division sit in Chambers which are responsible for conducting the proceedings of the Court at different stages.  Assignment of judges to Divisions is made on the basis of the nature of the functions each Division performs and the qualifications and experience of the judge. This is done in a manner ensuring that each Division benefits from an appropriate combination of expertise in criminal law and procedure and international law. The judges of the Court are: Silvia Alejandra FERNÁNDEZ DE GURMENDI (Argentina), Joyce ALUOCH (Kenya), Kuniko OZAKI (Japan), Sanji Mmasenono MONAGENG (Botswana), Christine Baroness VAN DEN WYNGAERT (Belgium), Cuno Jakob TARFUSSER (Italy), Howard MORRISON (United Kingdom), Olga Venecia del C. HERRERA CARBUCCIA (Dominican Republic), Robert FREMR (Czech Republic), Chile EBOE-OSUJI (Nigeria), Geoffrey A. HENDERSON (Trinidad and Tobago), Marc PERRIN DE BRICHAMBAUT (France), Piotr HOFMAŃSKI (Poland), Antoine Kesia-Mbe MINDUA (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Bertram SCHMITT (Germany), Péter KOVÁCS (Hungary), Chang-ho CHUNG (Republic of Korea).

·         Judge Sylvia Steiner (Brazil) is continuing in office to complete the trial, in accordance with article 36(10) of the Rome Statute.

·         Office of the Prosecutor

·         The Office of the Prosecutor is 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 Office is headed by the Prosecutor, Mrs. Fatou Bensouda (The Gambia), who was elected by the States Parties for a term of nine years.

She is assisted by Deputy Prosecutor James Stewart who is in charge of the Prosecutions Division of the Office of the Prosecutor.

·         Registry

·         The Registry is responsible for the non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the Court. The Registry is headed by the Registrar who is the principal administrative officer of the Court. The Registrar exercises his or her functions under the authority of the President of the Court. The current Registrar, elected by the judges for a term of five years, is Mr Herman von Hebel (The Netherlands). 

·         Other Offices

·         The Court also includes a number of semi-autonomous offices such as the Office of Public Counsel for Victims and the Office of Public Counsel for Defence. These Offices fall under the Registry for administrative purposes but otherwise function as wholly independent offices. The Assembly of States Parties has also established aTrust Fund for the benefit of victims of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court and the families of these victims.

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