International Criminal Court

Overview

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a permanent judicial body that deals with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes against aggression.

History and Creation

The ICC was established on 17 July 1998, when the Rome Statute was adopted during the diplomatic conference of the UN delegation representatives. The Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the ICC and sets out its jurisdiction and powers. The ICC began its activities on 1 July 2002.

Jurisdiction

The ICC has jurisdiction over four core crimes in international criminal law:

* Genocide
* Crimes against humanity
* War crimes
* Crimes against aggression

In December 2017, the States Parties agreed to include the crime of aggression in the ICC's jurisdiction, with effect from July 2018.

Structure and Operations

The ICC is an independent international organization based in The Hague, Netherlands. It has a cooperation agreement with the United Nations (UN), which regulates their relations. The Court has 18 judges assigned, who are responsible for conducting trials. The President of the Court as of March 2021 is Judge Pyotr Hofmanski, a Polish lawyer and judge.

The ICC has over 900 employees working under its jurisdiction. The official languages of the ICC are English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.

Relationship with the United Nations

Although the ICC is not part of the UN system, it has a cooperation agreement with the UN that regulates their relations. The ICC's jurisdiction is not universal, but rather specific to the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.

Statistics

As of 2021, the ICC has jurisdiction over 123 countries (60% of all countries in the world), which represent about 30% of the world's population.

Note: I've kept the original dates and numbers from both sources, as they provide a clear and accurate picture of the ICC's history and operations.