World Day of International Criminal Justice (17/07)

July 17 is World International Criminal Justice Day, or International Justice Day. The holiday was established in honor of the adoption on this day in 1998 of the Rome Statute – of the treaty, which formed the basis for the creation of the International Criminal Court, the ICC. International Criminal Court, ICC).

Work on this fundamental document of the ICC began back in December 1948, when the UN General Assembly approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Related to Genocide and invited the International Law Commission « to consider the desirability and possibility of creating an international legal body, which is entrusted with consideration of cases of persons accused of committing the crime of genocide».

But the official adoption of the Rome Statute took place only half a century later. Thus, on July 15-17, 1998, the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries under the auspices of the UN was held in Rome, at which the convention establishing the ICC – as the first international permanent criminal justice body authorized to prosecute persons guilty of the most inhumane crimes was adopted. On July 17, the conference participants signed the Rome Statute. That treaty entered into force on 1 July 2002, after 60 States had become parties to the Statute through ratification or accession.

Today, the ICC is an independent international standing judicial body, – empowered to exercise jurisdiction over those responsible for the most serious crimes of international concern«. It is not part of official UN structures. The jurisdiction of the court is limited to crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed after July 1, 2002 – of the date of entry into force of the Rome Statute.

Also within the competence of the court, since 2010, is the prosecution of persons responsible for crimes of aggression, but only after the international community has clearly given a legal definition of this crime.

But the ICC's jurisdiction is complimentary: it takes proceedings only if the national authorities are unwilling or unable to try a person suspected of serious violations of international humanitarian law. After all, the main mission of the ICC is – guaranteeing the inevitability of punishments for the most serious crimes. The charges relate to massacres, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as soldiers.

Location of the ICC – is the city of The Hague (Netherlands), but it can sit in other places if it deems it necessary. As of October 2022, 123 states are parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. Another 31 countries have signed the Rome Statute, but have not yet ratified it, including Russia. In November 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which Russia ceased to be a party to the Rome Statute. From the point of view of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the ICC did not live up to the hopes placed on it and did not become a truly independent, authoritative body of justice.

The celebration of World Day of International Criminal Justice is accompanied by various events and actions aimed at strengthening international justice.

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