International Criminal Court:

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is able to investigate and prosecute those individuals accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of war. The ICC will help defend the rights of those, such as women and children, who have often had little recourse to justice:

At the end of the bloodiest century in human history, the international community adopted a treaty creating the world's first independent and permanent International Criminal Court. That court is now a reality. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is able to investigate and prosecute those individuals accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of war. The ICC complements existing national judicial systems and will step in only if national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute such crimes. The ICC will also help defend the rights of those, such as women and children, who have often had little recourse to justice.

The Statute outlining the creation of the court was adopted at an international conference in Rome on July 17, 1998. After 5 weeks of intense negotiations, 120 countries voted to adopt the treaty. Only seven countries voted against it (including China, Israel, Iraq, and the United States) and 21 abstained. 139 states signed the treaty by the 31 December 2000 deadline.

66 countries -- 6 more than the threshold needed to establish the court -- ratified the treaty on 11 April 2002. This meant that the ICC's jurisdiction commenced on July 1, 2002. On September 3, the court's historic first Assembly of States Parties -- the ICC's governing body -- convened at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The court's "Advance Team" is at work in The Hague creating the technical and administrative infrastructure that the court will need to open in 2003. As of February 10, 2003, 89 countries have ratified it. The tribunal came into force on July 1, 2002.