Complaints To The International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, provides that individuals or organizations may submit information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. These submissions are referred to as "communications" or complaints to the International Criminal Court.
As of end September 2010, the Office of the Prosecutor had received 8,874 communications about alleged crimes. After initial review, 4,002 of these communications were dismissed as “manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the Court”. As of March 2011, the ICC has launched investigations into seven situations in Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Darfur, Sudan, Kenya, Libya, and Cote d'Ivoire. Several other situations have been subject to "intensive analysis", including Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Gaza Strip, Georgia.
Some of the communications received by the Prosecutor alleged that crimes had been committed on the territory of states parties to the Court, or by nationals of states parties: in such cases, the Court may automatically exercise jurisdiction. Other communications concerned conduct outside the jurisdiction of states parties: in these cases, the Court can only act if it has received a referral by the United Nations Security Council or a declaration by the relevant state allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction.
Communications from individuals and organisations should not be confused with referrals from states parties or the United Nations Security Council.
Read more about Complaints To The International Criminal Court: Procedure, Complaints Received
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
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—James Baker (b. 1930)