Understanding the International Criminal Court

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Understanding the International Criminal Court
I. The ICC at a glance
1. What is the International Criminal Court?
The International Criminal Court (“the ICC” or “the Court”) is a permanent 
international court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused 
of committing the most serious crimes of concern to the international community 
as a whole, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and 
the crime of aggression.
2. Why was the ICC established?
Some of the most heinous crimes were committed during the conflicts which 
marked the twentieth century. Unfortunately, many of these violations of 
international law have remained unpunished. The Nuremberg and Tokyo 
tribunals were established in the wake of the Second World War. In 1948, when 
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 
was adopted, the United Nations General Assembly recognised the need for a 
permanent international court to deal with the kinds of atrocities which had just 
been perpetrated.
The idea of a system of international criminal justice re-emerged after the end of 
the Cold War. However, while negotiations on the ICC Statute were underway at 
the United Nations, the world was witnessing the commission of heinous crimes 
in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. In response to these 
atrocities, the United Nations Security Council established an ad hoc tribunal for 
each of these situations.
These events undoubtedly had a most significant impact on the decision to convene 
the conference which established the ICC in Rome in the summer of 1998.

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