The International Criminal Court

Abstract

Abstract The chapter focuses on the International Criminal Court (ICC), established and empowered under the Rome Statute, a multilateral treaty among states. It starts by sketching the history and basic workings, including the procedural essentials, of the Court, before considering a wide range of legal questions relating to the scope and exercise of its jurisdiction and to its applicable law. The chapter next examines the relationship between the Court’s jurisdiction and national jurisdictions, in particular the principle of ‘complementarity’. It concludes with an account and analysis of the many legal issues that arise in connection with the obligation on states parties to the Rome Statute to co-operate with the Court, especially by way of the surrender of suspects and the production of evidence.