U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court for probes targeting America and its ally Israel.

About the International Criminal Court (ICC)

• Establishment and Purpose: The ICC is the first international permanent court established to investigate and prosecute individuals accused of serious international crimes.
  • It was adopted by 120 states on 17 July 1998 and came into effect on 1 July 2002.
  • The ICC is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.
  • Its founding treaty is known as the Rome Statute.
• Jurisdiction and Crimes Covered- The Rome Statute grants the ICC jurisdiction over four main categories of crimes:
  1. Genocide
  2. War crimes
  3. Crimes against humanity
  4. Crime of aggression

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• • The ICC only deals with crimes committed on or after 1 July 2002.
• Member Parties: The ICC currently has 125 member nations.
  • India, the United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute.
  • Malaysia became the 124th member in 2019, while Ukraine joined as the 125th State Party on 1st January 2025.
• Official Languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.
• Enforcement and Limitations: The ICC’s decisions are binding, but it does not have its own police force.
  • It relies on state cooperation for the arrest and surrender of suspects, which is essential for enforcement.
• Relationship with the United Nations: The ICC is not a United Nations organization but has a cooperation agreement with the UN.
• Conditions for ICC Investigation: The ICC can only investigate and prosecute crimes if the national judicial systems of the concerned countries are not conducting genuine investigations or prosecutions for the same alleged crimes.

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