What Is ICC Meaning? The International Criminal Court Explained

A word is highlighted these days which is pulling the attention of everyone. There are many words that make us curious as well as confused and force us to find out about them. Now there is one word that is making us think about it and that is “ICC”. Not it is related to cricket nor is the full form of is International Cricket Council in fact it is related to Russia. This country is already in the news since the last year due to its war with Ukraine and now the word “ICC” is pulling a lot of attention and making us find out about it. People want to know what is ICC and why it is highlighted in the news.

What Is ICC Meaning?

The full form of ICC in this context is The International Criminal Court and it came into the news after it called for the detain of Vladimir Putin the President of Russia. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against the Russian President on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children as well as the illicit transfer of individuals from the territory of Ukraine to the Federation of Russia. This news has pulled the attention of all over the world and people want to know more about it but in a detailed manner.

As per the reports, ICC also released an arrest warrant for the commissioner for the rights of children, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova on the same kind of allegations. However, Moscow has rejected allegations that its forces committed atrocities at the time of the 1-year invasion of Ukraine. In the first reaction of Moscow to the news, the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova states on her social media channel that “The decisions or the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from the legal point of view.”

She further posted on Telegram that “Russia is not the party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and carry no obligations under it.” In the year 2000, Russia signed the Rome Statue but never approved it to be part of the ICC, and ultimately withdrew its signature in the year 2016. A news outlet talked with Piotr Hofmanski the President of ICC about the arrest warrant. The media outlet asked that Russia states it does not recognize the ICC and it signed the Rome Statute but never ratified it. In this answer, the President of ICC said that

“It is entirely irrelevant (the fact that Russia has not ratified the Rome Statue). As per the ICC statute, which has around 123 state parties, and 2-3rds of the entire International community, the court has jurisdiction over crimes that are happening in the territory of the state party or the state which has accepted its administration. Whereas their rival country Ukraine accepted the ICC 2 times in the year 2014 as well as in the year 2015. After that, the media outlet asked If the Russian President traveled outside its territory and could then be detained.

In this reply, the ICC President said that he will be detained if Putin travels outside Russia. He further added that as per statute, all parties of the state have the legal obligation in order to cooperate entirely with the court. The obligation to detain the individual with respect to arrest warrants is issued. The next question asked by the media outlet is that the ICC has lodged 2 cases but as per the sources, there are several more accusations of atrocities. Is there a chance of any more? In this reply, he states that the entire situation is still under the hands of the prosecutor.

So far, there were 2 requests for detain warrants and by keeping in mind these requests, the response will soon be released, but it obviously does not mean it is the conclusion of the situation of the cases. There is a chance of cases can get expended. On the basis of gathering information proof, it is a high chance that new accusations can be made by the side of the prosecutor. In order to draw attention to the violation of China, the media outlet asked him if China is attempting to broker peace and also it looks like it is making some headway. Does he further add that is there a concern that these arrest warrants might really prolong the battle?

In this reply, Hofmanski states that this is political thought. ICC are doing their works. ICC is a court of law where the members act on the basis of the request made by the prosecutor. Constantly hearing about the ICC and its arrest warrant many people get keen to know more about it. ICC is basically an international tribunal and intergovernmental organization seated in The Hague, Netherlands. ICC is the 1st and only permanent international court with the administration to prosecute people for the international crimes of genocide, the crime of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.