17 July is the Day of International Criminal Justice - dedicated to honouring the creation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998. This day underscores the vital role of the ICC as the world's only permanent court with the authority to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. As victims of these crimes continue to suffer and impunity persists in many conflicts, the International Bar Association's (IBA) International Criminal Court and International Criminal Law (ICC & ICL) Programme has called for the international community to reaffirm its support for the Rome Statute system and to strengthen cooperation with the ICC to ensure justice and accountability worldwide.
IBA President Jaime Carey commented: 'Despite facing significant challenges, the ICC remains a beacon of hope for victims and a testament to the global commitment to justice and upholding the rule of law.'
When states created the Rome Statute, they acknowledged that 'millions of children, women and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity' and that 'the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished.' The Rome Statute system relies on the active engagement and cooperation of the States Parties to the Rome Statute (States Parties) to deliver the ICC's mandate, including by supporting efforts to prosecute the crime of aggression.
The ICC's Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute (the Assembly ) met in a Special Session on 7-9 July 2025 in New York, United States to review the jurisdiction of the ICC over the crime of aggression, which establishes individual criminal responsibility for the planning, preparation, initiation or execution of a manifest act of aggression. In a position paper , the IBA ICC & ICL Programme supported amending the Rome Statute to ensure that the ICC can exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in line with other core crimes.
While many States Parties favoured amending the Rome Statute, there was significant opposition from States Parties that argued that more consideration and discussion was required. In a resolution adopted at the conclusion of the meeting by consensus, the Assembly committed to strengthening the Court's jurisdiction over the crime of aggression and decided to convene another Special Session in 2029 to reconsider the amendment proposals.
The different jurisdictional regime established for the crime of aggression means the ICC cannot investigate and prosecute acts of aggression in some situations, including after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Without an existing international mechanism able to try Russia's top political and military leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, States Parties have agreed to establish the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in the framework of the Council of Europe (CoE).
On the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis commented: 'The creation of this Special Tribunal affirms the principle that the crime of aggression - the supreme international crime - must not go unpunished. For the Ukrainian people, who continue to endure the consequences of Russia's unlawful invasion, this Tribunal offers a long-overdue legal mechanism for justice. It is now the responsibility of the international community to ensure its success.'
On International Criminal Justice Day, the IBA ICC & ICL Programme reiterates calls for States Parties to cooperate with the arrest and surrender of suspects to ICC, an essential step to ensure accountability for victims of serious crimes. As the IBA ICC & ICL Programme has outlined in a recent report presented to the Hague Working Group of the Assembly on 3 July, without arrests, there can be no trials, no justice or reparations for victims. The report, titled No Arrests, No Trials, No Justice: A Strategic Framework for Strengthening Efforts to Execute International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants, builds on current efforts to strengthen cooperation with and support for the enforcement of ICC arrest warrants, to propose a framework for a comprehensive strategy to execute ICC arrest warrants.
IBA ICC & ICL Programme Director Kate Orlovsky stated: 'The Court is dependent on state cooperation to track suspects and ensure their arrest and surrender. It is essential that the Court and Assembly work together and in coordination with all relevant stakeholders, to ensure that ICC arrest warrants are executed properly and in full respect of the rights of the suspect; trials are conducted; and the Court delivers justice for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. As the world reflects on the importance of international criminal justice, the message is clear: justice must be pursued relentlessly, and the rule of law upheld for the betterment of all humanity.'
