According to the draft statute, the international criminal court will be a

permanent court with the power to investigate and bring to justice

individuals who commit the most serious crimes of concern to the

international community, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against

humanity.

The idea of a permanent court began with the unsuccessful attempt to

establish an international tribunal after the First World War. Following the

Second World War, the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crime tribunals set the stage

for efforts to create a permanent court. It was first considered at the

United Nations in the context of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the

Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Further development of

the notion was effectively forestalled through differences of opinions for

many years.

In 1992, the General Assembly directed the International Law Commission to

elaborate a draft statute for an international criminal court (resolution

47/33). Further public interest was created by the establishment of the

International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia in 1993 and for

Rwanda in 1994.

In December 1994, the General Assembly, by resolution 49/53, established an

Ad Hoc Committee opened to all Member States or members of specialized

agencies to review the major substantive and administrative issues arising

from the International Law Commission's draft statute. The following year,

the Assembly established the Preparatory Committee with the mandate to draft

a widely acceptable consolidated text of a convention for an international

criminal court based on the International Law Commission's draft statute

(resolution 50/46).

In its original format, the 60-article draft statute of the proposed

international criminal court details the court's relationship with the

United Nations; composition and administration; jurisdiction and applicable

law; investigation and advancement of prosecution; trial; appeal and review;

international cooperation and judicial assistance; and enforcement.

Officers

The Chairman of the Preparatory Committee is Adriaan Bos (Netherlands). The

Vice-Chairmen are Cherif Basssiouni (Egypt); Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi

(Argentina) and Marek Madej (Poland). The Rapporteur is Masataka Okano

(Japan).