President Donald Trump authorised economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on ICC investigations, protested against the ICC’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It is a permanent international court to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
The ICC does not replace national criminal justice systems rather, it complements them.
It can investigate and, where warranted, prosecute and try individuals only if the State concerned does not, cannot or is unwilling to do so genuinely.
Founding treaty- The Rome Statute.
Established in - 2002.
International Tribunal - The Hague, Netherlands.
The Rome Statute provides that the Court may sit elsewhere whenever the judges consider it desirable.
It can prosecute crimes committed by nationals of member states or on the territory of member states by other actors.
Member states - It has 125 member states. Palestine became the 123rd member (2015), Malaysia became 124th State party (2019) and Ukraine became the 125th member.
India, United States, China and Russia, Myanmar, Israel are not members of ICC.
Funded by - Contributions from the States Parties and by voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.
The ICC is a permanent autonomous court, whereas other similar courts, established under United Nations are to deal with specific situations, and only have a limited mandate and jurisdiction.
In 2004, the ICC and the United Nations signed an agreement governing their institutional relationship.
No one is exempt from prosecution because of his or her current functions or because of the position he or she held at the time the crimes concerned were committed.
The Court has no jurisdiction with respect to any person who was under the age of 18 when the crimes concerned were committed.
