The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted on July 17, 1998. Resulting from several years of intense negotiations, the International Criminal Court embodies decades if not centuries of dreams and hard work of many in pursuing the tight against impunity and the strenghtening of international justice. The ICC is a permanent institution having power to exercise its jurisdic tion over individuals for the most egregious crimes of international concern.
In its first Article, the Rome Statute provides the unique character of the world’s permanent criminal court by stating its complementary character to national criminal jurisdictions. It establishes the seriousness of the crimes as another relevant threshold for exercising its jurisdiction.