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> A Universal Court with Global Support > Ratification and Implementation > Implementation of the Rome Statute

The ICC’s main purpose is to assist the international community in the difficult task of closing the impunity gap for the most heinous international crimes: genocide, war crimes, and crimes again humanity. However, while the Court places itself at the heart of the new international justice system to fight impunity, it also remains a “court of last resort”, leaving the primary responsibility to exercise jurisdiction over alleged criminals to national legal systems. This system of complementarity can only work if states undertake the following: ratify or accede to the Rome Statute, fully cooperate with the Court by providing all the necessary judicial assistance in its proceedings, and implement all of the crimes under the Rome Statute into domestic legislation. As the Court initiates investigations, the existence of solid cooperation legislation takes on new urgency. Beyond situation states and their neighbors, the implementation of the Rome Statute provides an opportunity to reinvigorate reforms of the criminal and procedure codes, which, in the long term, will strengthen rule of law, peace, and security globally.

Many nations ask for technical legal assistance in their processes of implementation. The CICC is one of a few organizations in the world actively monitoring and working on promoting the development of implementation legislation globally. As with ratification, the overwhelming focus of CICC’s work is educational, providing basic information, documentation and examples of how different nations have addressed similar legal issues. To assist our membership, and also those governments working on their legislation, the Coalition is committed to providing comprehensive information on the state of legislative drafting and implementation campaigns throughout the world. Serving primarily as a facilitator in these efforts, the Coalition also strives to make tools available to assist in the drafting process, such as analyses of the principal legal issues arising from ratification and implementation.

Currently, 65 countries have enacted legislation containing either complementarity or cooperation provisions, or both, into their domestic law. 35 countries have some form of advanced draft implementing legislation.

The following charts provide an overview of the status of Rome Statute and APIC ratification and implementing legislation on cooperation and complementarity in all states:

Summary of the Status of Ratification and Implementation of the Rome Statute and the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities (APIC)

Full Chart on the Status of Ratification and Implementation of the Rome Statute and the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities (APIC)