What is the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent court capable of trying individuals accused of the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The treaty that established the ICC, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002, and the seat of the Court was established in The Hague. Since then, all senior ICC officials, including the 18 judges (of whom 8 are women); ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina; and Registrar Silvana Arbia of Italy (replacing Bruno Cathala of France on 17 April 2008); have been elected and taken office. Following state referrals by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, the Central African Republic and a UN Security Council referral of the situation of Darfur, Sudan to the Court, the Court has launched four investigations the DRC, Uganda, CAR and Darfur, Sudan. 12 arrest warrants have been issued an
