International Criminal Court

After WWII, the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1948) and Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal (1946-1948) used the power of international law to penalize those responsible for violations of Geneva conventions of war and crimes against humanity. The trials were temporary and no permanent body was put in place by the newly formed United Nations (UN). More genocide and atrocities occurred in the decades following (Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Uganda and Rwanda) and temporary tribunals were put in place to bring these war criminals to justice (the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda). These were also temporary tribunals, not courts with international jurisdiction to bring war criminals to justice. In 1998, shortly after the horror of genocide in Rwanda, the UN and a majority of member states agreed to the formation of a permanent world criminal court, the International Criminal Court (ICC).

https://youtu.be/IfsX9mJsOi8

The ICC is a permanent international court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused of committing the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole: the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The primary mission of the ICC is to help put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of such crimes and contribute to their prevention

On 17 July 1998, a conference of 160 States adopted a treaty – known as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – establishing the International Criminal Court. The treaty entered into force on 1 July 2002. Among other things, the Rome Statute sets out the crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC, the rules of procedure and the mechanisms for States to cooperate with the ICC. The countries which have accepted these rules are known as States Parties. Over 120 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute

The ICC is not a substitute for national courts The ICC is not a substitute for national courts. According to the Rome Statute, it is the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes. The ICC can only intervene where a State is unable or unwilling to carry out the investigation and prosecute the perpetrators.

The ICC’s primary mandate is to bring to justice those who commit war crimes but are not put on trial by the home nation. The ICC is different from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a number of ways: ICJ does not have criminal jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ICJ is a civil tribunal that deals primarily with disputes between states ICJ is the primary judicial body of the UN ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute individual responsible for serious crimes of international concern such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity ICC is independent of the UN and is not accountable to its member states

The U.S. is not a participant in the ICC Clinton: Signed the Rome statute in 2000, but did not submit it for Senate verification Bush: Stated that the United States would not join the ICC Obama: Re-established a working relationship with the ICC as an observer Trump: Rome statute remains unratified by the U.S.

https://youtu.be/Ouc7MOqCw5Q

Create a poster & an annotated bibliography with at least 5 sources: Groups 1,3 & 5: The United States should join the ICC Groups 2, 4 & 6: The United States should not join the ICC