Speaking after a meeting with the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, Mr Powell said there were no plans to send the treaty establishing the court, which was signed by the former president, Bill Clinton, to the Senate for ratification.

Almost thirty countries have already ratified the articles of the court, and a further one-hundred-and-thirty-nine have signed up to its provisions.

Republicans have claimed that the court, which will try those accused of war crimes and human rights abuses, would violate United States sovereignty and could be used against American soldiers abroad.