EXPLAINER: How does the International Criminal Court work?

Record ID: 1983138

  • Title: EXPLAINER: How does the International Criminal Court work?
  • Date: 6th February 2025
  • Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (FILE - OCTOBER 8, 2014) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF KENYAN PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA WAVING AT SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) BUILDING AFTER HIS LEGAL TEAM SAID PROSECUTORS FAIL TO PROVE THE CASE AGAINST HIM LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 30, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English)
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Gaza ICC International Criminal Court Netanyahu Putin The Hague Ukraine arrest warrants crimes against humanity explainer genocide war crimes
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Various
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA007707629012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (February 6) authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term.
    The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who - along with his former defense minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas - is wanted by the ICC over the war in the Gaza Strip.
    The International Criminal Court was created by the Rome Statute, a treaty ratified by all the EU states, as well as Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, 33 African countries and 19 nations in the South Pacific in 1998.
    It was established in 2002 to investigate and prosecute four core crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
    HOW DOES IT WORK?
    The ICC's founding Rome statute oblige all 124 ICC signatory states to arrest and hand over any individual subject to an ICC arrest warrant if they set foot on their territory.
    However, it's difficult to enforce and relies on the cooperation of state parties, says professor of international law at the London School of Economics, Gerry Simpson.
    "There is a legal question here and a political question. The political question really aligns around the relationship between diplomacy and law," Simpson said.
    The issuance of an ICC arrest warrant doesn't curbs an individual's freedom to travel. However, once an arrest warrant has been issued, they risk arrest if they travel to an ICC signatory state, which may influence their decision-making.
    WHAT HAPPENS WHEN STATES DON'T COMPLY?
    The sanction for not arresting someone is a referral back to the ICC's assembly of member states and ultimately a referral to the U.N. Security Council.
    There have been a number of occasions when state parties have not complied.
    Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, indicted in 2009 for genocide in Darfur, remained in office for another decade until being toppled in a coup.
    While in office, he travelled to a number of Arab and African countries, including ICC member states Chad, Djibouti, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda, which declined to detain him. The court rebuked those countries or referred them to the U.N. Security Council for non-compliance. He has since been prosecuted in Sudan for other crimes but has not been handed to the ICC.
    WHAT COUNTRIES ARE NOT STATE PARTIES TO THE ICC?
    Russia signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but withdrew its backing in 2016, after the ICC classified Moscow's annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula as an armed conflict.
    The United States, China, Israel and Iran, are among the other nations not state parties to the ICC and therefore not obliged to detain or surrender accused individuals.
    KEY FIGURES INDICTED AND OTHERS WITH OUTSTANDING ARREST WARRANTS
    Kenya's President William Ruto and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta were both charged by the ICC before they were elected. The charges against both men have since been dropped. Kenyatta is the only leader to have appeared before the ICC while still serving in office.
    A prominent fugitive is Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023. The Kremlin said the move was meaningless. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its invasion of its neighbour.
    The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, and also for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations of committing war crimes, and representatives of both sides criticised ICC prosecutor Karim Khan's decision.
    (Production: Lucy Marks)
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