International Criminal Court (ICC)
Why it Matters?
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders, including Haibatullah Akhundzada, for crimes against humanity related to the gender-based persecution of women in Afghanistan.
What You Should Know?
The ICC is the first permanent international court established to prosecute individuals for serious crimes like genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression.
The ICC was established by the Rome Statute, adopted in 1998 and entered into force on 1st July 2002.
ICC jurisdiction covers four crimes:
Genocide
Crimes against Humanity
War Crimes
Crime of Aggression
ICC's jurisdiction applies to crimes committed by a State Party national, within State Party territory, or referred by the UN Security Council.
The Principle of Complementarity means ICC prosecutes only if national courts are unwilling or unable to do so.
The ICC has 125 member states.
India, the USA, China, Russia, and Israel are not members.
The ICC does not have its own police force and depends on State cooperation for arrest and enforcement.
Its official languages include English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.
The Prosecutor can begin investigations suo motu, on State Party request, or UNSC referral.
ICC has no jurisdiction over persons under 18 years of age.