THE JURISDICTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

The book focuses on the core of the ICC jurisdiction and specifically on the three pillars-foundations of its jurisdiction: 1) the preconditions to the exercise of its jurisdiction (Art. 12 ICC Rome Statute) 2) the scope of its jurisdiction - substantive competence, i.e. the core crimes defined in the Rome Statute (Art. 5-8bis, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crime of aggression) 3) the principle of complementarity which governs the ICC’s “ultimate jurisdiction”. Moreover, beyond the examination of the three central pillars linked to the ICC’s “positive jurisdiction”, the main “negative preconditions” for the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction are also analysed, namely the issue of immunities (art. 27 ICC Rome Statute “Irrelevance of Official Capacity”), and the attempted exceptions of ICC’s jurisdiction via the Security Council referrals of Sudan and Libya situations. The examination of the positive and negative aspects of ICC’s jurisdiction is hoped to provide an original holistic examination.