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UNITEDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

Functions of International Criminal court

Author:[SARTHAK VORA]
Semester:[6]

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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DECLARATION

I SARTHAK VORA declared that this text reported in the project is the outcome of my own efforts and
no part of this project assignment has been copied in any unauthorized manner and no part of it has been
incorporated without due acknowledgment.

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION___________________________________________________________________2
TABLE OF CONTENTS_________________________________________________________________3
INTRODUCTION_______________________________________________________________________4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY___________________________________________________________6
Functions of International Criminal court_____________________________________________________7
CASES THAT ICC OPENED______________________________________________________________8
FUND FOR ICC________________________________________________________________________9
CONCLUSION________________________________________________________________________11
BIBLIOGRAPHY______________________________________________________________________12

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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INTRODUCTION

 On 11 April 2002, 10 countries approved the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the
United Nations (UN) treaty that instituted the International Criminal Court (ICC) - an international
court of last resort. This brought the total number of sanctions to more than 60 countries.

 In recent years, several reservations have been sent by members of the international community
concerning the Court. One notable early critic has been the United States, which, despite having signed
the statute in 2000, officially denied its legal obligations to the ICC in May 2002.

 The International Criminal Court, founded in 2002, seeks to hold to account those criminals of some of
the world’s worst crimes. Protectors of the court say it prevents would-be war criminals, supports the
rule of law, and offers justice to victims of offenses. But, since its inception, the court has faced ample
setbacks. It has been unable to gain the support of major powers, including the United States, China,
and Russia. Two countries have retreated from the court, and many African governments complain
that the court has singled out Africa.1

 The ICC is the world’s first permanent sovereign tribunal founded to end impunity for the most serious
crimes under international law: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humankind and crimes of assault.
The ICC started its operations in 2003 and has swiftly become the centerpiece of international criminal
justice. It is currently managing trials, investigations and preliminary investigations in 15 situations on
three regions.2

 The crux of the ICC task lies in enforcing and influencing compliance with particular norms of
international law aimed at outlawing and preventing mass disorder.3

 On 24 September 2012, the United Nations General Assembly kept a High-level Conference on the Rule
of Law at the National and International Levels throughout which many delegates spoke about the
significance of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the Resolution adopted at the meeting, States
recognized "the role of the International Criminal Court in a multilateral system that aims to end

1
The Role of the International Criminal Court by Claire Felter
2
ibid
3
The Role of the International Criminal Court in Ending Impunity and Establishing the Rule of Law by Sang-Hyun Song

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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impunity and establish the rule of law".4

 Faced with the extensive perpetration of unimaginable crimes after the Second World War, international
society joined an unparalleled call for justice. It tried to put an end to such crimes through, inter alia, the
adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Execution of the Crime of Genocide, the four Geneva
Conventions, and the Nuremberg Principles.5

4
Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels, A/67/L.1, 19
September 2012.
5
Ibid.
UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Objection:
Theiobjectiveiofithisipaperiisitoiunderstand International Criminal Court works and what are its function.

Hypothesis:
International criminal court is ultimate court in the world to get justice against crime and this court have
very high powers and jurisdiction over world.

Research Question:
How ICC works?
Functions of ICC
How ICC gets funds?
Which cases ICC handles?

Coverage and Scope:

The whole article covers the evolution ICC court and how it established and which countries comes under it
and this article cover international region in its research.

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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Functions of International Criminal court

 The ICC is situated in The Hague, a city in the Netherlands that hosts many international organizations,
and has field offices in several nations. The court carries out its investigative activity through the office
of the prosecutor, led since 2012 by Fatou Bensouda, a lawyer from the Gambia.

 The court has eighteen judges, each from a distinct member country and elected by the member states. It
needs its members to seek a gender-balanced bench, and the judiciary must include agents of each of the
United Nations’ five regions6. Judges and prosecutors are selected for nonrenewable nine-year terms.
The president and two vice presidents of the court are chosen from among the judges; they, along with
the registry, manage the administration of the court.

 The court has jurisdiction over four kinds of crimes under international law:
 genocide, or the intention to destroy in total or in part a national, ethnic, racial, or spiritual group;
 war crimes, or grave violations of the rules of war, which include the Geneva Conventions’
prohibitions on cruelty and attacks on civilian targets, such as clinics or schoolhouses;
 crimes against humankind, or violations charged as part of large-scale attacks against civilian groups,
including murder, rape, imprisoning, slavery, and torture; and
 crimes of assault, or the use or threat of armed force by a state against the national integrity,
sovereignty, or political autonomy of another state, or breaches of the UN Charter.

 The court can open an investigation into potential crimes in one of three ways: 1.a member country can
refer a location within its territory to the court; 2. the UN Security Council can refer a place,3. or the
prosecutor can launch an investigation into a constituent state proprio motu, or “on one’s initiative.” The
court can examine individuals from nonmember states if the alleged crimes took place in a member
state’s region, if the nonmember state accepts the court’s power, or with the Security Council’s
permission.7

 To open an investigation, the prosecutor must decide after a preliminary investigation that the alleged
offenses are of “sufficient gravity.” Once an investigation is started, the prosecutor’s office usually
sends investigators and other teams to gather evidence. Any arrest warrant or summons must be
authorized by the judiciary, based on the information given by the prosecutor. A group of pretrial judges
finally decides whether a case should be brought to trial8. Defendants may ask outside attorney to

6
Supra note 1.
7
Article “Foreign Affairs interviewed Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2017 about criticism levied against the court.”
8
Ibid.
UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY
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represent them, paid for, if necessary, by the court. Convictions and sentences need the vote of at least
two out of the three judges on a trial bench; sentenced defendants may appeal to the ICC’s appellate
bench, which is made up of five judges.

 The ICC is assigned to complement rather than substitute national courts. It can only act when national
courts have been found incapable or unwilling to try a case. moreover, it only operates jurisdiction over
crimes that happened after its statute took effect in 2002.9

 The ICC varies from the International Court of Justice—the top UN court, which resolves disputes
between states and is also located in The Hague—in that it continues individuals. Its broad geographic
reach and continuous operation differentiate it from temporary international tribunals, such as that in
Rwanda.10
Cases that the ICC opened.

 The ICC has accused more than forty individuals, all from African nations. Sixteen people have been
arrested at The Hague, eight have been sentenced to crimes, and four have been acquitted.11

 Matters have been referred by the governments of Uganda, the Central African Republic, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali reporting to the civil wars and other disputes that have raged
in those nations.12

 The UN Security Council made its first referral in 2005, for alleged violations in the Darfur area of
Sudan. This was happened in 2011 by a referral for Libya.13

 In extension, the prosecutor’s office began investigations proprio motu in Kenya in 2010, the Ivory
Coast in 2011, Georgia in 2016, and Burundi in 2017. Preliminary investigations have been opened in
ten other nations, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Venezuela14

9
ibid
10
Article in The Guardian” looks at potential alternatives to the ICC, including an African human rights court.”
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
The Role of the International Criminal Court in Ending Impunity and Establishing the Rule of Law by Sang-Hyun Song is
President of the International Criminal Court.
14
Ibid.

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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

FUNDS FOR ICC

 In 2017, the ICC’s yearly budget stood at about $160 million. The vast bulk of that funding comes from
constituent states. Donations are determined by the same method the United Nations works to charge
dues, which roughly agree to the size of each member’s economy. The largest donations in 2017 came
from Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Some nations, notably Brazil and Venezuela,
have run up millions of dollars in delayed payments.16

 The UN General Assembly can pass additional funding for cases referred to the court by the Security
Council. Some states and transnational institutions also offer voluntary contributions.

15
Supra note 1
16
Ibid.
UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY
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 Some analysts have scrutinized the ICC as too expensive. Others counter that the court’s
cost-effectiveness cannot be based on the number of cases it works, or sentences it secures, alone.17

17
Ibid.
UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY
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CONCLUSION
With all the criticism ICC still needs for the ones who need justice many of nations accused ICC for only
prosecutes against African countries and many more criticism like it has too much powers ,it threatens
sovereign of nations and many more but it benefits are much more higher.

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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BIBLIOGROPHY

Reports:
a) Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law at the National and
International Levels, A/67/L.1, 19 September 2012.

Journals and articles:

1) The Role of the International Criminal Court by Claire Felter
2) The Role of the International Criminal Court in Ending Impunity and Establishing the Rule of Law by
Sang-Hyun Song is President of the International Criminal Court.
3) Article in The Guardian” looks at potential alternatives to the ICC, including an African human rights
court.”
4) Article “Foreign Affairs interviewed Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2017 about criticism
levied against the court.

UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY

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UNITDWORLD SCHOOL OF LAW, KARNAVATI UNIVERSITY