The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in July 17, 1998 establishes in its article 1 that the Court “…shall be a permanent institution and shall have the power to exercise its jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern, as referred to in this Statute, and shall be complementary to national criminal jurisdictions. The jurisdiction and functioning of the Court shall be governed by the provisions of this Statute”.

The Statute entered into force on July 1^st, 2002, in accordance with article 126 that holds that: “This Statute shall enter into force on the first day of the month after the 60^th day following the date of the deposit of the 60^th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations”.

To date, 114 states have ratified the Rome Statute, including 26 member states of the OAS, being the latest St Lucia on August 18, 2010. It must be noted that four member states of the OAS have signed the Statute but have not become parties yet).

Between 1999 and 2002, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States supported a resolution relating to the adoption of the Statute of Rome, and since 2003 the General Assembly has adopted a resolution on the promotion of the Court.  It worth underlying that, in accordance with this commitment, the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs held on February 3, 2006 a “Working meeting on appropriate measures that states should take to cooperate with the international criminal court in the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes against the administration of justice of the international criminal court.”  In 2006, the General Assembly adopted the resolution "Promotion of the International Criminal Court"[1]^/

[AG/RES. 2176 (XXXVI-O/06)]

[1]. Reservation by the United States: The United States has long been concerned about the persistent violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law throughout the world.  The United States will continue to be a forceful advocate for the principle of accountability for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, but cannot support the flawed International Criminal Court.  Thus, the United States has not ratified the Rome Statute and has no intention of doing so.  In light of this position, the United States cannot join in the consensus on an OAS resolution that promotes the Court.