Rome Statute

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002 after the 60th ratification was deposited. The Court itself is seated in The Hague.

The Statute does several things at once:

• It creates the ICC as a permanent, treaty-based court with international legal personality, distinct from ad hoc tribunals like the ICTY and ICTR.
• It defines the crimes within the Court's jurisdiction: genocide (Article 6), crimes against humanity (Article 7), war crimes (Article 8), and the crime of aggression (Article 8 bis, added by the 2010 Kampala amendments and activated in 2018).
• It sets out jurisdictional triggers: referral by a State Party, referral by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII, or a proprio motu investigation opened by the Prosecutor with Pre-Trial Chamber authorisation.
• It codifies the principle of complementarity, meaning the ICC only acts where national courts are unwilling or genuinely unable to prosecute.
• It establishes the Court's organs, including the Presidency, Chambers, Office of the Prosecutor, and Registry, and the Assembly of States Parties as its governing body.

The Statute has been amended, most notably at the 2010 Kampala Review Conference, which added the definition of aggression and amended Article 8 on war crimes.

Membership is not universal. Notable non-parties include the United States (which signed in 2000 but later "unsigned"), China, India, Israel, and Russia. Burundi withdrew in 2017 and the Philippines in 2019. Withdrawal is governed by Article 127 and takes effect one year after notification to the UN Secretary-General.

The Rome Statute is the principal reference text for any debate on international criminal accountability.