The International Criminal Court (ICC)

The Rome Statute, adopted in 1998 and effective in 2002, established the International Criminal Court as a permanent institution to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The ICC, based in The Hague, has indicted figures from many countries including Sudan, Libya, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Russia (Putin was indicted in 2023 for war crimes in Ukraine).

The ICC has limitations. The United States, China, Russia, India, and Israel are not parties. The ICC depends on member states to arrest indicted individuals; it has no police force of its own. Many ICC trials have taken years. Critics argue the court has disproportionately focused on African cases. Despite these limitations, the ICC represents a major institutional development in international human rights.