The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often referred to as

the International Criminal Court Statute or the Rome Statute) is the treaty that
established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic
conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of
March 2016, 124 states are party to the statute. Among other things, the statute
establishes the court's functions, jurisdiction and structure.
The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against
humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Those crimes "shall not be subject to
any statute of limitations". Under the Rome Statute, the ICC can only investigate and
prosecute the four core international crimes in situations where states are "unable" or
"unwilling" to do so themselves. The court has jurisdiction over crimes only if they are
committed in the territory of a state party or if they are committed by a national of a
state party; an exception to this rule is that the ICC may also have jurisdiction over
crimes if its jurisdiction is authorized by the United Nations Security Council.
The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against
humanity, war crimes, and crime of aggression. Following years of negotiation, aimed at
establishing a permanent international tribunal to prosecute individuals accused
of genocide and
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Assembly convened a five-week diplomatic conference in Rome in June 1998 "to finalize
and adopt a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court". On 17
July 1998, the Rome Statute was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries
abstaining. Because the way each delegation voted was officially unrecorded, there is
some dispute over the identity of the seven countries that voted against the treaty. It is
certain that the People's Republic of China, Israel, and the United States were three of
the seven because they have publicly confirmed their negative votes; India, Indonesia,
Iraq, Libya, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen have been identified by
various observers and commentators as possible sources for the other four negative
votes, with Iraq, Libya, Qatar, and Yemen being the four most commonly identified.

On 11 April 2002, ten countries ratified the statute at the same time at a special
ceremony held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, bringing the total
number of signatories to sixty, which was the minimum number required to bring the
statute into force, as defined in Article 126. The treaty entered into force on 1 July
2002; the ICC can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date. The statute
was modified in 2010 after the Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda, but
the amendments to the statute that were adopted at that time are not effective yet.
The Rome Statute is the result of multiple attempts for the creation of a supranational
and international tribunal. At the end of 19th century, the international community took
the first steps towards the institution of permanent courts with supranational
jurisdiction. With the Hague International Peace Conferences, representatives of the
most powerful nations made an attempt to harmonize laws of war and to limit the use of
technologically advanced weapons. After World War I and even more after the heinous
crimes committed during World War II, it became a priority to prosecute individuals
responsible for crimes so serious that needed to be called "against humanity". In order
to re-affirm basic principles of democratic civilization, the alleged criminals were not
executed in public squares or sent to torture camps, but instead treated as criminals:
with a regular trial, the right to defense and the presumption of innocence.
The Nuremberg trials marked a crucial moment in legal history, and after that, some
treaties that led to the drafting of the Rome Statute were signed.
UN General Assembly Resolution n. 260 9 December 1948, the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, was the first step towards the
establishment of an international permanent criminal tribunal with jurisdiction on
crimes yet to be defined in international treaties. In the resolution there was a hope for
an effort from the Legal UN commission in that direction. The General Assembly, after
the considerations expressed from the commission, established a committee to draft a
statute and study the related legal issues. In 1951 a first draft was presented; a second
followed in 1955 but there were a number of delays, officially due to the difficulties in
the definition of the crime of aggression, that were only solved with diplomatic

assemblies in the years following the statute's coming into force. The geopolitical
tensions of the Cold War also contributed to the delays.
Trinidad and Tobago asked the General Assembly in December 1989 to re-open the talks
for the establishment of an international criminal court and in 1994 presented a draft
Statute. The General Assembly created an ad hoc committee for the International
Criminal Court and, after hearing the conclusions, a Preparatory Committee that
worked for two years (19961998) on the draft. Meanwhile, the United Nations created
the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and for Rwanda (ICTR) using
statutesand amendments due to issues raised during pre-trial or trial stages of the
proceedingsthat are quite similar to the Rome Statute.
During its 52nd session the UN General Assembly decided to convene a diplomatic
conference for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, held in Rome 15
June17 July 1998 to define the treaty, entered into force on 1 July 2002. This Rome
Conference was attended by representatives from 161 member states, along with
observers from various other organizations, intergovernmental organizations and
agencies, and non-governmental organizations (including many human rights groups)
and was held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, located about 4 km away from the Vatican (one of the states
represented).
Ratification status
Main article: States parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
As of March 2016, 124 states are parties to the Statute of the Court, including all the
countries of South America, nearly all of Europe, most of Oceania and roughly half of
Africa. A further 31 countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. The law of
treaties obliges these states to refrain from "acts which would defeat the object and
purpose" of the treaty until they declare they do not intend to become a party to the
treaty. Three signatory statesIsrael, Sudan and the United Stateshave informed the
UN Secretary General that they no longer intend to become states parties and, as such,
have no legal obligations arising from their former representatives' signature of the

Statute. 41 United Nations member states have neither signed nor acceded to the Rome
Statute; some of them, including China and India, are critical of the Court. Ukraine, a
non-ratifying signatory, has accepted the Court's jurisdiction for a period starting in
2013.

Review and amendment

See also: Review Conference of the Rome Statute and Amendments to the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court
Any amendment to the Rome Statute requires the support of a two-thirds majority of
the states parties, and an amendment (except those amending the list of crimes) will not
enter into force until it has been ratified by seven-eighths of the states parties. A state
party which has not ratified such an amendment may withdraw with immediate effect.
Any amendment to the list of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court will only apply
to those states parties that have ratified it. It does not need a seven-eighths majority of
ratifications.
The states parties held a Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda from 31 May to 11
June 2010. The Review Conference adopted a definition of the crime of aggression,
thereby allowing the ICC to exercise jurisdiction over the crime for the first time. It also
adopted an expansion of the list of war crimes.