The Jurisdiction Of The International Criminal Court

With the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (hereinafter,'Rome Statute') entered into force, the International Criminal Court (hereinafter,'ICC'or'the Court') came into being on 1 July 2002. It is a great improvement of the International Criminal Law and has a significant influence on the whole international community. As of Feb. 2010, 111 countries have been State Parties to the Rome Statute. The jurisdiction of the ICC is important part in the operation of the Court, but different countries, especially the U.S., China and the European Union hold different positions on it. Therefore, this paper gives introduction of the background and the jurisdiction of the ICC, and then lists positions on the ICC, especially its jurisdiction, held by the U.S., China and the European Union. China had played a constructive role in the whole process of the establishment of the ICC, but because some articles of the Rome Statute could not satisfy some reasonable concern of the Chinese Government, China has not acceded to the Rome Statute and joined the ICC. Thus, the core of this paper is about the possibility of China's accession as well as corresponding measures China may take. There are three parts in this paper, including about 43,000 words. The first part: briefly introduces the background of the ICC, from international military tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo which set up in the waning days of the Second World War to the Rome Statute which legally came into force. Then the author mainly introduces the jurisdiction of the ICC, including subject matter jurisdiction, temporal jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction and jurisdiction over persons. Trigger Mechanisms and complementarity, the important underlying principle of the Court's jurisdiction, are also covered.The Second Part: elaborate different positions on the ICC, especially its jurisdiction, held by the U.S., China and the European Union. This part firstly lists the U.S. strongly opposition on the ICC and related strategy, then introduces China's comparative positive attitude and expectations of the ICC, and thirdly, reflects the unconditional support of the EU, from its enacted legislation and attitude to the U.S. strategy opposing the ICC.The third part: focus on the possibility of China's accession and corresponding measures China may take. This part discusses four questions step by step: (1) the influence of the ICC on China considering that China has not acceded to the Statute, (2) the possibility of China's accession, (3) the possible influence on China if being a State Party, and (4) the corresponding measures China may take if accession.