International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC) [International Criminal Court wiki] (Cour pénale internationale) in The Hague, Netherlands, is the "first ever permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished.

"The Court shall be complementary to national criminal jurisdictions. The jurisdiction and functioning of the Court shall be governed by the provisions of the Rome Statute.

"The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was established on 17 July 1998, when 120 States participating in the 'United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court' adopted the Statute. The Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002. Anyone who commits any of the crimes under the Statute after this date will be liable for prosecution by the Court." [1]

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"The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a judiciary body that tries cases of genocide, war crimes and other 'crimes against humanity.' The leading instrument for creating the court is a treaty known as the 'Rome Statute,'" which too effect July 1, 2002. [2]

"Almost 100 countries have ratified the Rome treaty recognizing the ICC. A notable exception is the United States, which opposes the court." [3]

Structure of the Court

Accessed March 2009:

Presidency

"The President of the Court is Judge Philippe Kirsch (Canada). Judge Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana) is First Vice-President, and Judge Rene Blattmann (Bolivia) is Second Vice-President."

Judicial Divisions

"The judges of the Court are: Philippe Kirsch (Canada), Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana), René Blattmann (Bolivia), Georghios M. Pikis (Cyprus), Elizabeth Odio Benito (Costa Rica), Sang-hyun Song (Republic of Korea), Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany), Mauro Politi (Italy), Erkki Kourula (Finland), Fatoumata Dembele Diarra (Mali), Anita Usacka (Latvia), Sir Adrian Fulford (United Kingdom), Sylvia Steiner (Brazil), Ekaterina Trendafilova (Bulgaria), Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko (Uganda), Fumiko Saiga (Japan), Bruno Cotte (France)."

Office of the Prosecutor

"The Office is headed by the Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo (Argentina), who was elected by the States Parties for a term of nine years.

"He is assisted by Deputy Prosecutor Mrs. Fatou Bensouda (Gambia) who is in charge of the Prosecution Division of the Office of the Prosecutor."

Registry

"The current Registrar, elected by the judges for a term of five years, is Ms Silvana Arbia (Italy)."

Contact details

International Criminal Court
Po Box 19519
2500 CM, The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 (0)70 515 8515
Fax: +31 (0)70 515 8555
URL (English): http://www.icc-cpi.int/home.html&l=en

SourceWatch Resources

• Luis Moreno Ocampo
• globalization
• International Court of Justice
• John R. Bolton
• Kofi Annan
• New World Order
• Supreme Court

External links

• "International Criminal Court" in the Wikipedia.
• Coalition for the International Criminal Court website.
• International Criminal Court: Resources in Print and Electronic Format, University of Chicago Library.
• "International Criminal Court," Human Rights Watch.
• "The United States and the International Criminal Court," Human Rights Watch.
• "The International Criminal Court," Amnesty International; Human Rights Concerns.
• "International Criminal Court," Council of Europe.
• "U.S. Opposition to the International Criminal Court," Global Policy.

Publications

• Kenneth Roth, John R. Bolton, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Ruth Wedgwood, "Toward an International Criminal Court?", Council on Foreign Relations, 1999. ISBN 0-87609-261-x.

Articles & Commentary

• Joe Stork, "Constructing an International Criminal Court," Middle East Report/MERIP, Summer 1998.
• James Carroll, "US Should Back International Criminal Court," Boston Globe, September 12, 2000.
• Richard Egan, "International Criminal Court leads to legal uncertainty," News Weekly, December 1, 2001.
• Peter Ford, "War criminals face new court. The UN's vision for a standing international criminal court comes true today, despite US criticism," Christian Science Monitor, April 11, 2002.
• Patrick J. Buchanan, "World Government Rising," World Net Daily, April 16, 2002.
• Fact Sheet: The International Criminal Court, U.S. Department of State, May 6, 2002: "U.S. Decision: On May 6th, 2002, the U.S. formally notified the United Nations that the U.S. does not intend to become a party to the Rome statute."
• Marc Grossman, "American Foreign Policy and the International Criminal Court," Remarks to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, May 6, 2002.
• "US renounces world court treaty," BBC, May 6, 2002: "The United States has withdrawn from a treaty to establish an International Criminal Court (ICC), provoking outrage from human rights organisations."
• Evelyn Leopold, "U.S. Confronts Its Allies Over New Global Court," Reuters, June 20, 2002.
• Eric Schwartz, "The US Assault on World Criminal Court," Boston Globe, July 1, 2002.
• Ron Paul, "A Court of No Authority," Texas Straight Talk, August 8, 2002.
• Elizabeth Becker, "U.S. Brandishes Another Stick Over World Court. Threat to stop many nations' military aid," New York Times, August 10, 2002.
• Michelle Keleman, "International Criminal Court," NPR, September 17, 2002: "The Bush administration says Americans charged with war crimes will be tried in their own court system, and wants other countries to agree not to extradite Americans to the International Criminal Court."
• "World criminal court launched," CNN, March 11, 2003: "The first global criminal court holds its inaugural session on Tuesday when judges are sworn in, but the United States will show its hostility to the tribunal by staying away."
• Ian Black, "International Criminal Court sworn in," Guardian (UK), March 12, 2003.
• Tom DeWeese, "International Criminal Court or International Mischief?," CNS News, July 11, 2003. [broken link].
• "Iraq Pulls Out of International Criminal Court," Agence France Press, FP, March 3, 2005: "Iraq's interim government has revoked its decision to adhere to the International Criminal Court, which it had announced just two weeks ago. ... State television says that Iraq pulled back from the court today. It offered no explanation."
• Simon Tisdall, "International law starts to bring Washington back into the fold," Guardian/UK, March 11, 2005.
• Diane Johnstone, "Do We Really Need an International Criminal Court?: Selective Justice for Failed States Only", Counterpunch, January 27 / 28, 2007.
• Olley Maruma, "ICC — ‘Western kangaroo court’", Global Research, March 15, 2009.
• Edward S. Herman, "Desmond Tutu on the International Criminal Court", Z Magazine, December 2013.