Established in 2002 under the multilateral Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and international court based in The Hague, the Netherlands. The ICC, which has 125 state parties, the majority of the world's states, is independent but is supported by the United Nations General Assembly.
Several large countries, such as the United States, Russia, and China, are not parties. However, the Court is a judicial body that serves the interests of the international community by enforcing and promoting universally recognized rules of international law, including the law of armed conflict and human rights law.
The ICC is the only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression, and is the primary institution responsible for prosecuting individuals for the most serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Its Office of the Prosecutor is an independent organ of the Court that conducts preliminary examinations and investigations and is the only person who can bring cases before the Court.
The Rome Statute is one of the most important legal documents in the field of international humanitarian law and international criminal law. It marks a critical step in the evolution of international law, advancing the idea that individuals who commit the most serious crimes should be held accountable at the international level, thereby creating a deterrent to atrocity crimes.
The Rome Statute created a global system for holding individuals accountable for crimes that previously often went unaddressed by national courts, especially in cases where countries were unwilling or unable to prosecute the perpetrators themselves.