International Courts - ICC

What is the ICC

International Criminal Court

When did the origins of the ICC begin

End of WW2

What are the origins of the ICC

• Tokyo & Nuremberg Tribunal

• UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia 

Who created these tribunals 

The UN SC under chapter 7

What was the Nuremberg Tribunal?

Judge on Nazi officials between 1945 & 1949 by the US, UK, SU and France

What was the Nuremberg Tribunal the first tribunal to do?

Judge crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity 

What was the ICC established by?

The Rome Statute 17 July 1998

When did the idea of the ICC (an international court to judge individuals) finally come together

• Late 1980’s

• Post Cold War (collapse of SU)

What was the aim of the ICC?

To have jurisdiction universally and remove the need for the creation of ad hoc tribunals

When was the Rome Conference

1998

What is the founding treaty of the ICC called

The Rome Statute

How many countries adopted the Rome Statute

120

When did the Rome Statute Enter into force

2002 after 60 ratifications

In 2025 how many state parties are there

125

Give 2 examples of countries that recently joined the ICC

• Armenia 

• Ukraine (2024)

What is the main difference between the ICJ and the ICC?

ICJ = Inter-state dispute

ICC = only judge individual persons (does not assign state responsibility for any crimes)

What are the 4 specific crimes the ICC deal with?

• War crimes 

• Crimes against humanity 

• Genocide = 1948 Genocide Convention

• Crime of aggression = leadership crime - state commits an act of aggression, the leadership can be prosecuted

What is the ICC created by?

An International Treaty = The Rome Statute

—> it has international legal personality

Is the ICC a UN body?

No, not a UN organ or specialised agency

= it is in a relationship agreement 

= 2 different organisations

What is different about the ICC and the Yugoslavian Tribunal

The ICC is complementary to national systems 

• If a state is able & willing to prosecute and investigate crimes, the ICC has no competence

• If a state outs forwards sufficient evidence that it is doing its part, the ICC has to step back

What are the 3 ways that the ICC can get involved in a situation?

1. Request of a state Party

2. Request of the UN SC

3. Initiative of the ICC Prosecutor & authorisation of the judges 

1. What is meant by the request of a state party

• a state party requests the opening of an investigation

• was the most frequent way of the start of investigations

• crimes were usually reported by its own state

2. How often has the UN SC requested the opening of an investigation?

• 2 times in history

  • Sudan, Darfur (2005)

  • Libya (2011)

  • + attempts for Syria (2010)

3. ICC prosecutor has the authority to open investigations if the legal threshold has been met. Provide an example:

• Georgia (2008 war with Russia)

3. Who decides if the prosecutors decision is the be authorised?

A panel of judges 

What are the criteria to open an investigation?

• Crimes must have been committed after 1 July 2002

• Crimes have to have been committed on the territory of the State Party or by a national of a State Party 

  • e.g. War between Ukraine & Russia (Russia is not a state party but the ICC has jurisdiction because crimes have been committed on Ukrainian territory who are a member party)

• Must be either a war crime, crime against humanity or genocide.

  • crime of aggression was only activated later (2017) so ICC only has jurisdiction if a state party has additionally accepted crime of aggression

  • e.g. Russia & Ukraine there is no jurisdiction over crime of aggression

• Crimes have to be grave enough (outlined by Statute)

• Can’t be prosecuted at national level

• Investigation must serve the interest of justice

What is the first phase of the ICC getting involved called?

Preliminary examinations

Who has power over deciding preliminary examinations?

Prosecutor

• they receive information that a crime is being committed

• they start gathering information and discussing with states, NGOs

• do an analysis 

• decide if there are grounds for an investigation or not

What happens if the prosecutor decided there are grounds for an investigation?

• they have the authority to send in investigators to that state party to look into the allegations

• prepare criminal prosecution investigations in the Hague

How many ongoing investigations are there currently?

12

Name 3 ongoing preliminary examinations

• Nigeria

• Venezuela II

• Republic of Lithuania/ Republic of Belarus

Who leads the prosecution and how are they elected?

• the prosecutor 

• elected by states parties 

How many judges are there are who elects them?

• 18 judges

• state parties elect the judges

How many judges in a criminal proceeding at:

1. Pre-Trial stage?

2. The Trial stage?

3. The Appellate (appeal) stage?

1. 3

2. 3

3. 5

How do victims participate?

• through a legal representative (lawyer)

• question the defence, call witnesses, question witnesses 

What are the victims entitled to in the case of conviction?

Reparations:

• monetary

• psychological 

• restitution 

What does the court rely heavily on?

Witness testimonies:

• prosecution or defence witnesses 

• victims 

• insider witnesses (part of the organisation that was committing the crime)

What is the registry responsible for?

Witness protection & deciding security measures

Who falls into the witness protection program?

• Most vulnerable witnesses 

Is there a permanent pillar in the ICC for prosecution?

Yes

Is there a permanent defence office?

No

What is there instead of a permanent defence office?

• A list of Council = lawyers around the world can apply for this list

• Once there is a defendant, they can choosing a council from that list

What are steps taken after sufficient evidence is found to charge a person? 

1. Prosecutor requests judges to issue:

• An arrest warrant

• Or a summons to appear (if they think the person is willing to come to the court to defend themselves)

2. Judges issue a warrant or a summons

3. Warrant goes to the Registry - contact the state party

• can be public or confidential (determinations made depending on the case)

• ICC relies on cooperation to arrest suspect

4. Person is arrested and transferred to the Hague Detention Centre (not a prison)

Name some ongoing trials:

• Al Hassan (Mali) - found guilt of war crimes 

• Abd-Al-Rahman (Sudan) and Yekatom & Ngaissona (Central African Republic)

  • judgement stage 

• Said (Central African Republic)

  • defence is finishing their presentation of evidence before judges decide on judgement

• Duterte (former president of Philippines)

  • conformation of charges = prosecution has presented charges so judges need to decide of they are reasonable charges for a trial

How many years has the ICC been functional for?

23 years

How many cases has the ICC had?

33

How many defendants have there been?

73

How many convictions have there been?

13

How many acquittals?

4

How many victims?

21,000

What is the future of the ICC?

• Cooperation

• Universality

• Demands for more justice