A Review Conference of the Rome Statute took place from 31 May to 11 June 2010, in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and R ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

to consider amendments to the

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

. The Rome Statute established the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...

in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, and provided that a review conference be held seven years after the entry into force.See Article 123 of the

Rome Statute The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the ...

Scope

The Review Conference considered amendments to the Rome Statute and the Statute made specific reference to reviewing the list of crimes within the court's jurisdiction. The final resolution when the Rome Statute was signed specifically recommended that the review should reconsider including

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in the list of crimes, and also agreeing on a definition of

crimes of aggression A crime of aggression or crime against peace is the planning, initiation, or execution of a large-scale and serious act of aggression using state military force. The definition and scope of the crime is controversial. The Rome Statute contains an ...

so that the court can exercise its jurisdiction over this crime. Two

amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. Th ...

were adopted. The first one is to extend the jurisdiction of the Court over some war crimes committed in non-international conflicts for which it already had jurisdiction if committed in international conflicts. The second one defines the crime of aggression and lays out conditions for the jurisdiction of the Court to be in force. The transitional provision of Article 124 regarding the war crimes opt-out was also discussed at the review conference, but it was decided to retain it for the time being. There was some disagreement as to whether the amendment relating to the definition of the crime of aggression needs ratification by seven eighths of the states parties (as a change of institutional provisions would) to enter into force or if it comes only in force for those countries that have ratified it (as a change of crime provisions would and as the amendment itself puts it). With the latter view prevailing, the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...

could also refer to the Court a situation regarding a crime of aggression allegedly committed by a national of a non-state party.

Proposals

General Assembly

In November 2009,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

floated a proposal at the Assembly of States Party that the power of the UN Security Council to defer an investigation should also be given to the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. This followed the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

's unsuccessful attempt to defer the investigation in Darfur.

Drug trafficking

In September 2007,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

specifically called for drug trafficking to be included in the list of crimes.

Targeting of journalists

The British television media company ITN wrote to the UK government in 2007 asking them to support an amendment to the definition of war crimes to include the intentional targeting of journalists.ITN seeks law to protect war reporters
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', 2007-10-16, accessed on 2007-10-29

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Review Conference Of The International Criminal Court Statute International Criminal Court Diplomatic conferences in Uganda 2010 in Uganda 21st-century diplomatic conferences 2010 in international relations 2010 conferences Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 21st century in Kampala