Crimes of Aggression

The crime of aggression is one of the four "core" international crimes prosecutable at the International Criminal Court (ICC), alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It is defined in Article 8 bis of the Rome Statute, which was added through the Kampala Amendments adopted at the ICC Review Conference in June 2010.

Under Article 8 bis, an "act of aggression" means the use of armed force by one state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of another state, or in any manner inconsistent with the UN Charter. The provision borrows directly from UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 1974, which enumerates acts such as invasion, military occupation, annexation, bombardment, blockade, and the sending of armed bands.

Key features:

• It is a leadership crime: only persons "in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a State" can be charged.
• The act must be a manifest violation of the UN Charter in character, gravity, and scale, which is intended to exclude borderline or genuinely contested uses of force.
• The ICC's jurisdiction over aggression was activated on 17 July 2018, but it is narrower than for other core crimes. The Court cannot exercise jurisdiction over nationals or territory of states that are not parties to the Rome Statute or that have not ratified the Kampala Amendments, unless the UN Security Council refers the situation.

The concept traces back to the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals after World War II, which prosecuted "crimes against peace." Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine revived debate over creating a special tribunal for the crime of aggression, since jurisdictional limits prevent the ICC from prosecuting Russian leadership directly for aggression, though the Council of Europe and a "core group" of states have advanced proposals for such a tribunal.