{"id":14092,"date":"2026-05-18T12:51:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T07:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=14092"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:51:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:21:53","slug":"what-is-the-international-criminal-court-icc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/what-is-the-international-criminal-court-icc\/","title":{"rendered":"International Criminal Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>International Criminal Court\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The International Criminal Court recently unsealed an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, accusing him, along with ex-President Rodrigo Duterte and other &#8220;co-perpetrators&#8221; of the &#8220;crime against humanity of murder&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About International Criminal Court\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a<\/span><b> permanent and independent criminal court<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> established to <\/span><b>prosecute offenders of serious crimes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the international community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the <\/span><b>only permanent international criminal tribunal.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was created by the<\/span><b> Rome Statute<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which came into force on July 1, <\/span><b>2002<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Mandate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: ICC<\/span><b> investigates <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and, where warranted, <\/span><b>tries individuals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> charged with the <\/span><b>gravest crimes of concern<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the international community.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specifically, the ICC is intended to prosecute the <\/span><b>following crimes:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Genocide<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Crimes against humanity<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>War crimes<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>The crime of aggression<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ICC is meant to serve as a <\/span><b>last resort when the courts of sovereign states are unwilling to prosecute.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, the ICC is<\/span><b> complementary to national criminal jurisdiction<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and does not supersede it.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, the ICC serves a <\/span><b>different purpose than<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the <\/span><b>International Court of Justice, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which <\/span><b>resolves conflicts between nations.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Members<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: There are <\/span><b>125 member countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><b>China, India, Israel, Russia,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><b>United States <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are <\/span><b>not ICC parties)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Funding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The Court is funded by contributions from the <\/span><b>States Parties and by voluntary contributions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from Governments, international organizations, individuals, corporations, and other entities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>International Criminal Court <\/b><b>Composition<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Judges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The court has<\/span><b> eighteen judges, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">each from a different member country, elected to <\/span><b>non-renewable nine-year terms.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>The Presidency:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consists of <\/span><b>three judges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (the President and two Vice-Presidents) elected<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from among the judges. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It represents the Court to the outside world and helps with the organization of the work of the judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Office of the Prosecutor (OTP): <\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OTP is responsible for<\/span><b> receiving referrals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and any <\/span><b>substantiated information on crimes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> within the jurisdiction of the Court. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OTP <\/span><b>examines these referrals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and information, <\/span><b>conducts investigations, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>conducts prosecutions <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">before the Court.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Registry<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It provides <\/span><b>administrative and operational support<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the Chambers and the Office of the Prosecutor.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>International Criminal Court <\/b><b>Jurisdiction<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ICC is only competent to <\/span><b>hear a case if:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>country<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where the<\/span><b> offence was committed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a<\/span><b> party to the Rome Statute<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; or<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><b> perpetrator\u2019s country <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of origin<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a <\/span><b>party to the<\/b> <b>Rome Statute.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ICC<\/span><b> only has jurisdiction over offences <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">committed <\/span><b>after the Statute\u2019s entry into force <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on <\/span><b>1 July 2002.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Various parties have the right to refer a case <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to the ICC:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>any State Party <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to the Rome Statute, <\/span><b>irrespective of any involvement in the alleged offence;<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the<\/span><b> Prosecutor of the ICC;<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the <\/span><b>United Nations Security Council (UNSC)<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>UNSC may ask the ICC to defer investigation of a case <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for a limited period if it considers that the proceedings would constitute an obstruction to its powers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><strong>:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/philippines-asks-top-court-to-allow-icc-drug-war-arrest-of-senator\/article70989714.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>International Criminal Court is a permanent and independent criminal court established to prosecute offenders of serious crimes in the international community. Read more about International Criminal Court, Headquarter, Composition, Jurisdiction, News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":64793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2852],"class_list":{"0":"post-14092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-international-criminal-court","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14092"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104035,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14092\/revisions\/104035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}