Rome Statute 1998
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
The Rome Statute is the contractual basis of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was established after years of negotiations about a permanent international criminal courtin June and July 1998, when Statute for the ICC was completed during major diplomatic conference in Rome . The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, has jurisdiction over suspected perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or aggression, including superiors or military commanders. The Court may exercise its jurisdiction, if the State on the territory of which the act or omission occurred or the State of nationality of the suspect is Party to the Statute or has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court. The ICC is not intended to take over jurisdiction exercised by national courts. Its intent is to exercise jurisdiction only when the state is unwilling or unable to prosecute. States continue to have the primary duty to prosecute suspected war criminals before their own courts. On 17 July 1998, 120 States adopted the Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing the permanent International Criminal Court. The Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after the ratification by 60 countries.