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."  - "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. 

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

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

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 * International Court of Justice
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