The International Criminal Court Treaty: Description, Policy Issues, and Congressional Concerns (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Jan. 6, 1999 |
| Report Number |
RL30020 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Ellen Grigorian, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an
International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded five weeks of negotiations on July 17, 1998 in Rome,
Italy, by adopting an agreement to establish a permanent international criminal court. Of the more
than 160 nations that participated in the Rome Conference, 120 nations voted to adopt the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court, 7 nations voted against it, while 21 nations abstained.
The United States rejected the final document primarily because of the broad jurisdictional powers
granted to the Court.
The Court's powers would include the authority to prosecute people from countries that do not
sign and ratify the ICC Treaty. As a result, U.S. military personnel stationed on foreign soil might
be subject to investigations and prosecutions by the ICC even if the United States does not become
a party to the ICC Treaty. Due to the fact that the global deployment of U.S. military personnel
exceeds any other country, U.S. officials are apprehensive over whether American armed forces may
be likely candidates for frivolous or politically motivated referrals.
Advocates of the ICC Treaty assert that sufficient safeguards exist to limit the Court's
jurisdiction. Notwithstanding this assertion, the Clinton Administration is not prepared to sign the
ICC Treaty in its current form. Ultimately, the Administration will have to determine what role, if
any, the United States should assume concerning its relationship to the ICC Treaty and the Court.
Even though the Administration has not submitted the ICC Treaty to the U.S. Senate for its advice
and consent, several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have expressed their
strong opposition to it. Any subsequent consideration of the ICC Treaty is unlikely unless corrective
measures are taken to amend the Court's jurisdictional powers.
Before the ICC can begin operating, 60 nations must become parties to the treaty through
formal ratification or accession procedures - a process that may take years.
