Obligations, Options and Obstacles. Implementing the Rome Statute Revisited

With the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998, the vast majority of States have called for a global criminal justice system determined to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of international crimes. Within this system, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) playing just a complementary role, adequate legislation at the States’ level that reflects the substantive provisions of the Rome Statute is a precondition for compliance. And indeed, over the past 20 years, many States have adopted specific legislation to incorporate international criminal law into their domestic legal systems and, more specifically, made genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression offences under their domestic law. In addition, a growing number of States have set up specialised investigating units and dedicated departments within their prosecution offices to deal with the complexities of such investigations