Rome Statute

The 1998 treaty establishing the International Criminal Court

Overview

Adopted in Rome in 1998 by 120 states and in force in 2002, the statute created the first permanent international criminal court with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and, activated in 2018, aggression. It operates on complementarity, stepping in only when states are unwilling or unable, and over 120 states are parties. The United States, China, and Russia are not, and warrants against leaders of great powers have made it politically contested. It stands as the institutional capstone of Nuremberg.