The International Criminal Court (ICC),governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. (ICC website)
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Jurisdiction of the ICC
Jurisdiction of the ICC covers genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. There has been some talk of including of terrorism but this is not likely in the near term. Jurisdiction is further limited to nationals of members of the court, crimes taking place on member nations' territory or by referal of the United Nations of a case. Over 100 countries are members of the ICC but not the United States, Russia, China, Israel, or India.
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Prosecution
To date, depsite thousands of referals, the ICC has prosecuted only a handful of cases, all in Africa.
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Initiating a Communication to the ICC
Anyone may make a communication to the ICC Prosecutor following the procedures set forth on the ICC website. Sometimes but not always, the office of the Prosecutor will acknowledge the referal, less rarely the outcome (usually a denial) will be reported back as well.
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International Criminal Bar
Many of the attorneys who practice before the ICC are members of the International Criminal Bar in The Hague.
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