Difference between revisions of "International Criminal Court"
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==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | The concept | + | The concept of establishing an international tribunal to prosecute war crimes first developed at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 by the Commission of Responsibilities. The concept was not brought to fruition at that time, however, but the topic was discussed again later by the League of Nations in Geneva at a conference in November of 1937. The first tangible step towards creating the tribunal came in 1948 following the Nuremburg and Tokyo Tribunals: the General Assembly recognized a strong need for a permanent international tribunal to address the war crimes like those committed in World War II, and thus requested the International Law Commission to draft two statues by the early 1950s. These statues, however, were not put into effect because the Cold War made the creation of an international criminal tribunal unrealistic. |
| − | Certain international lawyers and academics continued to argue for the creation and necessity of such an international tribunal. Benjamin B. Ferencz, the Chief Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial at Nuremburg, was a particularly vocal advocate of the cause, and wrote extensively about the establishment of the ICC | + | Certain international lawyers and academics continued to argue for the creation and necessity of such an international tribunal. Benjamin B. Ferencz, the Chief Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial at Nuremburg, was a particularly vocal advocate of the cause, and wrote extensively about the establishment of the ICC, particularly in his first book, published in 1975, entitled ''Defining International Aggression- The Search for World Peace." Momentum began to build again in the world political scene for the creation of the court in 1989, when A.N.R Robinson, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, suggested the creation of a permanent international court to handle illegal drug trade cases. Countries began drafting the courts statue, and the establishment of the ad hoc tribunals for war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia further emphasized the necessity of establishing a permanent international criminal court. |
| − | After several years of negotiations, the General Assembly called the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome in June of 1998 to finalize a treaty. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining on the 17th of July, 1998. The Rome Statute became a binding treaty on April 11, 2002, when the ratification count reached 60, and the Statute legally came into force on July 1, 2002. The ICC can only prosecute crimes committed after this date. The first bench of 18 judges was elected by the Assembly of State Parties in February 2003, and sworn in | + | After several years of negotiations, the General Assembly called the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome in June of 1998 to finalize a treaty. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining on the 17th of July, 1998. The Rome Statute became a binding treaty on April 11, 2002, when the ratification count reached 60, and the Statute legally came into force on July 1, 2002. The ICC can only prosecute crimes committed after this date. The first bench of 18 judges was elected by the Assembly of State Parties in February 2003, and was sworn in at the inaugural session of the Court on March 1, 2003. The Court issued its first arrest warrants on July 8th, 2005, and held its first pre-trial hearings in 2006. <ref> http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court/ICC+at+a+glance/Establishment+of+the+Court.htm</ref> |
==Composition of the Court== | ==Composition of the Court== | ||
