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International Criminal Court (ICC)

Treaty-based criminal tribunal — individual responsibility · The Hague, Netherlands · est. 2002 (Rome Statute)

Judicial — binding rulings

Prosecutes individuals for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Charged Omar al-Bashir with genocide over Darfur.

Funding & financing

Assessed contributions from states parties to the Rome Statute, plus voluntary contributions.

Affiliations

125 states parties — but the US, China, Russia, India, and Israel are not members. The Court has faced sanctions and political pressure from non-member states.

Credibility & caveats

Independent court with due-process guarantees, but it has no police force, depends on state cooperation, and has been criticized for selectivity (a historically Africa-heavy docket).

Membership & leadership

States join by ratifying the Rome Statute. Eighteen judges are elected by the Assembly of States Parties for nine-year terms. The prosecutor is elected by the ASP for a nine-year term (subject to removal by member vote). The presidency is chosen from among the judges. There is no individual public membership.

Leadership & members

Named individuals reflect leadership at the time of writing; linked names have individual profiles in this record. See membership & leadership above for how they are selected.

People profiled in this record

On the record

Verbatim quotations in this project attributed to this body or its officials.

  • “UNITAD has established clear and convincing evidence that genocide was committed by ISIL against the Yazidi as a religious group. The intent of ISIL to destroy the Yazidi, physically and biologically, is manifest in its ultimatum ... to convert or die.”

    Case: yazidi →

  • “His motives were largely political. His alibi was a 'counterinsurgency.' His intent was genocide.”

    Case: darfur →

  • “I have reasonable grounds to believe that Yahya SINWAR, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI (DEIF), and Ismail HANIYEH bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel.”

    Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →

Cases in this record

Sources & disclosures