The International Criminal Court (ICC)

What is ICC?
History of ICC.
Assembly of State Parties.
Organs of ICC.

ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international

tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer investigations to the Court.

The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the date that the Rome Statute entered into force. The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC's foundational and governing document. States which become party to the Rome Statute, for example by ratifying it, become member states of the ICC. Currently, there are 124 states which are party to the Rome Statute and therefore members of the ICC. However, Burundi has given formal notice that it will withdraw from the Rome Statute.

The ICC has four principal organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry. The President is the most senior judge chosen by his or her peers in the Judicial Division, which hears cases before the Court.

History

The establishment of an international tribunal to judge political leaders accused of international crimes was first proposed during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 following the First World War by the Commission of Responsibilities. The issue was addressed again at a conference held in Geneva under the auspices of the League of Nations in 1937, which resulted in the conclusion of the first convention stipulating the establishment of a permanent international court to try acts of international terrorism. The convention was signed by 13 states, but none ratified it and the convention never entered into force.

Following the Second World War, the allied powers established two ad hoc tribunals to prosecute axis power leaders accused of war crimes. The International Military Tribunal, which sat in Nuremberg, prosecuted German leaders while the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo prosecuted Japanese leaders. In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly first recognised the need for a permanent international court to deal with atrocities of the kind prosecuted after the Second World War. At the request of the General Assembly, the International Law Commission (ILC) drafted two statutes by the early 1950s but these were shelved during the Cold War, which made the establishment of an international criminal court politically unrealistic.

Assembly of States Parties

According to Article 112 of Rome Statute 

An  Assembly  of  States  Parties  to  this  Statute  is  hereby  established.  Each  State Party shall have one representative in the Assembly who may be accompanied by alternates  and  advisers.  Other  States  which  have  signed  this  Statute  or  the  Final.

Composition of ICC

Number of Judge

According to Article 36 of Rome Statute

There shall be 18 judges of the Court.

Qualifications of Judges

According to Article 36 of Rome Statute
 
The  judges  shall  be  chosen  from  among  persons  of  high  moral  character,
impartiality   and   integrity   who   possess   the   qualifications   required   in
their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices.

Every   candidate   for   election   to   the   Court   shall   have   an   excellent
knowledge of and be fluent in at least one of the working languages  of the
Court.

Every candidate for election to the Court shall:

(i) Have  established  competence  in  criminal  law  and  procedure,  and   the  necessary  relevant  experience,  whether  as  judge,  prosecutor,   advocate or in other similar capacity, in criminal proceedings; or

(ii) Have established competence in relevant areas of international law such as international humanitarian law and the law of human rights, and extensive experience in a professional legal capacity which is of
relevance to the judicial work of the Court;

Election of judges

According to Article 36 of Rome Statute

The judges shall be elected by secret ballot at a meeting of the Assembly of States  Parties  convened  for  that  purpose  under  article  112.  Subject  to  paragraph  7,  the  persons  elected  to  the  Court  shall  be  the  18  candidates  who obtain the highest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of the
States Parties present and voting.

At the first election, one third of the judges elected shall be selected by lot to serve for a term of three years; one third of the judges elected shall be selected  by  lot  to  serve  for  a  term  of  six  years;  and  the  remainder  shall serve for a term of nine years. 

Organs of the Court

The Court has four organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Division, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry.

Presidency

The Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court (apart from the Office of the Prosecutor). It comprises the President and the First and Second Vice-Presidents—three judges of the Court who are elected to the Presidency by their fellow judges for a maximum of two three-year terms.

Judicial Divisions

The Judicial Divisions consist of the 18 judges of the Court, organized into three chambers—the Pre-Trial Chamber, Trial Chamber and Appeals Chamber—which carry out the judicial functions of the Court. Judges are elected to the Court by the Assembly of States Parties. They serve nine-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election. All judges must be nationals of states parties to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state. They must be "persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices".

The Prosecutor or any person being investigated or prosecuted may request the disqualification of a judge from "any case in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be doubted on any ground". Any request for the disqualification of a judge from a particular case is decided by an absolute majority of the other judges. A judge may be removed from office if he or she "is found to have committed serious misconduct or a serious breach of his or her duties" or is unable to exercise his or her functions. The removal of a judge requires both a two-thirds majority of the other judges and a two-thirds majority of the states parties.

Office of the Prosecutor

The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is responsible for conducting investigations and prosecutions. It is headed by the Chief Prosecutor, who is assisted by one or more Deputy Prosecutors. The Rome Statute provides that the Office of the Prosecutor shall act independently; as such, no member of the Office may seek or act on instructions from any external source, such as states, international organisations, non-governmental organisations or individuals.

The Prosecutor may open an investigation under three circumstances:

- when a situation is referred to him or her by a state party;

- when a situation is referred to him or her by the United Nations Security Council, acting to address a threat to international peace and security; or

- when the Pre-Trial Chamber authorises him or her to open an investigation on the basis of information received from other sources, such as individuals or non-governmental organisations.

Registry

The Registry is responsible for the non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the Court. This includes, among other things, "the administration of legal aid matters, court management, victims and witnesses matters, defence counsel, detention unit, and the traditional services provided by administrations in international organisations, such as finance, translation, building management, procurement and personnel". The Registry is headed by the Registrar, who is elected by the judges to a five-year term.