The Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court will soon have its first opportunity to revise the Rome Statute and activate the latent crime of aggression, which awaits a definition of its elements and conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction.
It proposes modifications and interpretations of the constituent concepts of the crime of aggression intended to make the definition sociologically relevant today and in the foreseeable future.
The special working group tasked by the International Criminal Court's Assembly of States Parties to define the supreme international crime, the crime of aggression, has produced a breakthrough draft definition.
But the ICC members have not agreed a definition of "crime of aggression".
Adoption would require a majority to agree on a definition of the crime of aggression and the terms under which it could be prosecuted.
The two engaged in dialogue about the work of the International Criminal Court as the modern-day successor to the Nuremberg Trials and the significance of the ICC's pending definition of the crime of aggression.
Under the I.C.C. definition, an enforceable crime of aggression would only capture the most egregious violations of the U.N. Charter, leaving out — to the consternation of many pacifists — leaders implicated in "gray-area" interventions.
This paper analyzes the key concepts that make up the emerging definition of the crime of aggression by developing and applying a future-oriented methodology that brings together scenario planning and grounded theory.
Article 5 of the convention says that the court shall not "exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression" until member states agree on its modern definition.
Last week, Ambassador Wenaweser remarked that he is "cautiously optimistic" member states could forge a consensus on definition; if adopted, the crime of aggression would join war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide as actionable offenses.
The crime of aggression is subject to future negotiations, and unless states individually ratify an agreed definition, the court will have no jurisdiction over it.
