INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

 International Criminal Court, a permanent judicial body established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) to prosecute and sentence persons accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. On July 1, 2002, after the required number of countries (60) had ratified the agreement, the court proceeded to sit. The headquarters is located in the Netherlands, in The Hague.

 The International Criminal Court was established as a court of last resort to prosecute the most serious crimes in cases of inaction by national courts. Unlike the International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between states, the ICC is concerned with the prosecution of individuals. The jurisdiction of the court extends to offenses that took place after July 1, 2002, which were committed either in the state that ratified the agreement, or by a citizen of such a state.

 Although the Rome Statute received widespread support (some 140 countries had signed the agreement by the time it entered into force), few countries in the Middle East or Asia have acceded to it. In addition, by 2002, China, Russia and the United States had withdrawn from participation, and the United States threatened to withdraw its troops from the United Nations peacekeeping force unless their citizens (both military and civilian) were exempted from ICC persecution. However, in the five years since its first meeting, more than 100 countries have ratified the treaty. All member countries are represented in the Assembly of States Parties, which oversees the activities of the ICC. The first hearing of the International Criminal Court, held in 2006, was to decide whether to bring charges against Thomas Lubanga, accused of recruiting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 The ICC's first trial of Lubanga began in January 2009 and was convicted in March 2012 and then sentenced to 14 years in prison. In May 2007, the court issued arrest warrants for the Minister of State and militia leader in the Sudan for their role in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Sudanese forces in Darfur. In March 2009, the International Criminal Court issued a similar order to the President of the Sudan. Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir - for the first time, the court demanded the arrest of the current head of state.