On 1 July 2002, a group of countries around the world established the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a forum to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the world’s most serious crimes. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which governs the ICC and today has 123 states parties, builds on the legacy of the ad hoc international tribunals that preceded it, marking a milestone in the advancement of international criminal law. Now more than 20 years old, the ICC has become an established, if controversial, part of the international landscape. The Court has demonstrated the viability of a permanent institution that can successfully investigate and prosecute international crimes, but its record of securing convictions has proven underwhelming. Recognizing the need for reform, the ICC states parties commissioned an independent review of the Rome Statute system in December 2019. In their final report, the experts made hundreds of recommendations for improvement, targeting all branches of the institution and the ICC states parties themselves. This paper provides an overview of the historical development of international criminal law and a summary of the Rome Statute. It discusses the role and functioning of the ICC before proceeding to a review of the Court’s record to date and a discussion of the criticisms the ICC faces today.
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