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. By virtue of the principle of complementarity, the ICC’s jurisdiction is intended to come into play only when a State is genuinely unable or unwilling to prosecute alleged war criminals over which it has jurisdiction. The ICC is thus intended to be a last resort in the event that a State fails or is unable to properly discharge its duty to prosecute with regard to these international crimes.

See Genocide; War Crimes; Crimes Against Humanity; International Criminal Law; Individual Criminal Responsibility; Grave breaches;

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Suggested readings
 
AMBOS Kai, “Les fondements juridiques de la Cour pénale internationale”, in Revue Trimestrielle des Droits de l’Homme, Vol. 10/40, 1999, pp. 739-772.
 
ARSANJANI Mahnoush H., “The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court”, in AJIL, Vol. 93, 1999, pp. 22-43.
 
BASSIOUNI M. Cherif, “Note explicative sur le statut de la Cour pénale internationale”, in Revue Internationale de Droit Pénal, Vol. 71/1-2, 2000, pp. 1-41.
 
BASSIOUNI M. Cherif (ed.), The Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Documentary History, Transnational Publishers, 1998, 750 pp.
 
BELLELLI Roberto (ed.), International Criminal Justice: Law and Practice from the RomeStatute to its Review, Farnham, Ashgate, July 2010, 706 pp.
 
BROOMHALL Bruce, International Justice and the International Criminal Court, Oxford, OUP, 2003, 215 pp.
 
BOURDON William, La Cour pénale internationale, Paris, Le Seuil, 2000, 290 pp.
 
BYRON Christine, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the RomeStatute of the International Criminal
Court, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2009, 285 pp.
 
CARILLO-SALCEDO Juan-Antonio, “La Cour pénale internationale : l’humanité trouve une place dans le droit international”, in RGDIP, Vol. 103, 1999, pp. 23-28.
 
CASSESE Antonio, GAETA Paola & JONES John R. W. D., International Criminal Law, A Commentary on the Rome Statute for an International Criminal Court, Oxford, OUP, 2001.
 
CONDORELLI Luigi, “La Cour pénale internationale : un pas de géant (pourvu qu’il soit accompli...)”, in RGDIP,
Vol. 103, 1999, pp. 7-21.
 
DAVID Éric, “La Cour pénale internationale : une Cour en liberté surveillée?”, in International Law Forum, Vol. 1/1, 1999, pp. 20-30.
 
DORIA José, GASSER Hans-Peter & BASSIOUNI Cherif, The Legal Regime of the International Criminal Court: Essays in Honour of Professor Igor Blishchenko: In Memoriam Professor Igor Pavlovich Blischenko (1930-2000), Leiden, M. Nijhoff, 2009, 1121 pp.
 
JEANNET Stéphane, “Testimony of ICRC Delegates before the International Criminal Court”, in IRRC, No. 840, December 2000, pp. 993-1000.
 
KAUL  Hans-Peter, “The International Criminal Court: International Humanitarian Law at Work”, in BUFFARD
Isabelle [et al.] (eds), International Law between Universalism and Fragmentation: Festschrift in Honour of Gerhard Hafner, Leiden, Boston, M. Nijhoff, 2008, pp. 553-569.
 
KIRSCH Philippe, “The Birth of the International Criminal Court: the 1998 Rome Conference”, in CYIL, Vol. 36, 1998, pp. 3-39.
 
LATTANZI Flavia & SCHABAS William A. (eds), Essays on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Ripa Fagnano Alto, Sirente, 1999, 516 pp.
 
ROBERGE Marie-Claude, “The New International Criminal Court: A Preliminary Assessment”, in IRRC, No. 325, December 1998, pp. 671-691.
 
SCHABAS William A., An introduction to the International Criminal Court, Cambridge, CUP, 2001, 406 pp.
 
SCHABAS William A., The International Criminal Court: a Commentary on the RomeStatute, Oxford, OUP, 2010, 1259 pp.
 
TRIFFTERER Otto (ed.), Commentary on the RomeStatute of the International Criminal Court, Baden-Baden, 1999, 1295 pp.
 
WECKEL Philippe, “La Cour pénale internationale, Présentation générale”, in RGDIP, Vol. 102, 1998, pp. 983-993.
 
“Special Issue: Impunity – The International Criminal Court”, in IRRC, No. 845, March 2002, pp. 9 ss.
 
 
Articles & particular issues
 
BYRON Christine, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2009, 285 pp.
 
CLARK Roger S., “Building on Article 8(2)(b)(xx) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Weapons and Methods of Warfare”, in New Criminal Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2009, pp. 366-389.
 
CULLEN Anthony, “The Definition of Non-International Armed Conflict in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: an Analysis of the Threshold of Application Contained in Article 8(2)(f)”, in Journal of Conflict & Security Law, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2007, pp. 419-445.
 
FLORES ACUNA Tathiana, “The Rome Statute’s Sexual Related Crimes: an Appraisal under the Light of International Humanitarian Law”, in Humanitäres Völkerrecht, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2006, pp. 39-51.
 
FRONZA Emanuela, “Genocide in the Rome Statute”, in LATTANZI Flavia & SCHABAS William A. (eds), Essays on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Ripa Fagnano Alto, Sirente, 1999, pp. 105-137.
 
GAETA Paola, “The Defense of Superior Order: The Statute of the International Criminal Court versus Customary International Law”, in EJIL, Vol. 10, 1999, pp. 172-191.
 
GALAND Renaud & DELOOZ François, “L’article 31, par. 1 c) du Statut de la Cour pénale internationale : une remise en cause des acquis du droit international humanitaire ?”, in IRRC, No. 842, June 2001, pp. 533-538.
 
GARRAWAY Charles, “Superior Orders and the International Criminal Court: Justice Delivered or Justice Denied?”, in IRRC, No. 836, December 1999, pp. 785-794.
 
GAVRON Jessica, “Amnesties in the Light of Developments in International Law and the Establishment of the International Criminal Court”, in ICLQ, Vol. 51/1, 2002, pp. 91-117.
 
LAWRENCE Jessica C. & HELLER Kevin Jon, “The First Ecocentric Environmental War Crime: the Limits of Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute”, in Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2007, pp. 61-95.
 
OLASOLO Héctor, Unlawful Attacks in Combat Situations: from the ICTY’s Case Law to the Rome Statute, Leiden, M. Nijhoff, 2008, 288 pp.
 
SCHARF Michael P., “The Amnesty Exception to the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court”, in Cornell International Law Journal, Vol. 32/3, 1999, pp. 507-527.
 
SHARP Peter, “Prospects for Environmental Liability in the International Criminal Court”, in VirginiaEnvironmental Law Journal, Vol. 18/2, 1999, pp. 217-243.
 
STRAPATSAS Nicolaos, “Universal Jurisdiction and the International Criminal Court”, in Manitoba Law Journal, Vol. 29/1, 2002, pp. 132.
 
ZELLWEGER Valentin & KOLLER David, “Non-State Actors, International Criminal Law and the Role of the International Criminal Court”, in BREITENMOSER Stephan, EHRENZELLER Bernhard, SASSÒLI Marco, STOFFEL Walter & WAGNER PFEIFER Beatrice (eds), Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law: Liber Amicorum Luzius Wildhaber, Zürich, Dike, February 2007, pp. 1619-1634.
 
ZWANENBURG Marten, “The Statute for an International Criminal Court and the United States: Peacekeepers under Fire?”, in EJIL, Vol. 10/1, 1999, pp. 124-143.
 
“Atelier sur l’article 31, par. 1 c) du Statut de la Cour pénale internationale, coordonné par Éric DAVID”, in RBDI, 2000-2, pp. 355-488. 
 
Further readings
 
AREF Aref Mohamed, “La Cour pénale internationale : une nouvelle perspective pour l’Afrique”, in International Law Forum, Vol. 1/1, 1999, pp. 30-33.
 
BACIO TERRACINO Julio, “National Implementation of ICC Crimes: Impact on National Jurisdictions and the ICC”, in Journal of International Criminal Justice, Vol. 5, No. 2, May 2007, pp. 421-440.
 
BADINTER Robert, “De Nuremberg à la CPI”, in Pouvoirs, Vol. 92, 2000, pp. 155-164. BROWN Bartram S., “U.S. Objections to the Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Brief Response”, in JILP, Vol. 31/4, 1999, pp. 855-891.
 
CRYER Robert, “Implementation of the International Criminal Court Statute in England and Wales”, in ICLQ, Vol. 51/3, 2002, p. 733. “Developments at the International Criminal Court”, in AJIL, Vol. 99, 2005, pp. 370-431.
 
DÖRMANN Knut, Elements of War Crimes under the RomeStatute of the International Criminal Court, Cambridge, CUP, 2003, 580 pp.
 
DÖRMANN Knut, “Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court: The Elements of War Crimes – Part II: Other Serious Violations of the Laws and Customs Applicable in International and Non-International Armed Conflicts”, in IRRC, No. 842, June 2001, pp. 461-487.
 
DUYX Peter, HAVEMAN Roelof & VAN SLIEDREGT Elies, “War Crimes Law and the Statute of Rome: Some Afterthoughts?”, in RDMDG, Vol. 39, 2000, pp. 67-122.
 
KIRSCH Philippe, “The International Criminal Court: Current Issues and Perspective”, in Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 64/1, 2001, pp. 3-11.
 
LA ROSA Anne-Marie & CHAVEZ-TAFUR Gabriel, “Implementing International Humanitarian Law through the Rome Statute”, in BELLELLI Roberto (ed.), International Criminal Justice: Law and Practice from the Rome Statute to its Review, Farnham, Ashgate, July 2010, pp. 473-488.
 
LATTANZI Flavia, “Compétence de la Cour pénale internationale et consentement des États”, in RGDIP, Vol. 103, 1999, pp. 438-442.
 
LEE Roy S., DÖRMANN Knut & KIRSCH Philippe (eds), The International Criminal Court : Elements of Crimes and Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Ardsley, Transnational, 2001, 857 pp.
 
MOMTAZ Djamchid, “War Crimes in Non-International Armed Conflicts under the Statute of the International Criminal Court”, in YIHL, Vol. 2, 1999, pp. 177-192.
 
PEJIC Jelena, “Creating a Permanent International Criminal Court: The Obstacles to Independence and Effectiveness”, in Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 29/2, 1998, pp. 291-354.
 
PFANNER Toni, “The Establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Court”, in IRRC, No. 322, March 1998, pp. 21-27.
 
POLITI Mauro, “Le statut de la Cour pénale internationale: le point de vue d’un négociateur”, in RGDIP, Vol. 103/4, 1999, pp. 817-850.
 
RUBIN Alfred P., “The International Criminal Court: A Sceptical Analysis”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College, Vol. 75, 2000, pp. 421-438.
 
SPIEKER Heike, “The International Criminal Court and Non-International Armed Conflicts”, in LeidenJournal of International Law, Vol. 13/2, 2000, pp. 395-425.
 
STAHN Carsten & SLUITER Göran (eds), The Emerging Practice of the International Criminal Court, Leiden, Boston, M. Nijhoff, 2009, 770 pp.
 
SUR Serge, “Vers une Cour pénale internationale : La Convention de Rome entre les O.N.G. et le Conseil de Sécurité”, in RGDIP, Vol. 103, 1999, pp. 29-45.
 
URBINA Julio Jorge, “La protection des personnes civiles au pouvoir de l’ennemi et l’établissement d’une juridiction pénale internationale”, in IRRC, No. 840, December 2000, pp. 857-885.
 
VANDERMEERSCH Damien, “The ICC Statute and Belgian Law”, in Journal of International Criminal Justice, Vol. 2, 2004, pp. 133-157.
 
WEDGWOOD Ruth, “The International Criminal Court: An American view”, in EJIL, Vol. 10/1, 1999, pp. 93-107.