July 1, 2002

Rome Statute

The Rome Statute enters into force, bringing the International Criminal Court into legal existence

Ten countries filed their ratifications in a single procession in April. On 1 July a permanent criminal court came into legal existence with nobody on its bench.

A date produced by an arithmetic clause

The Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 under its Article 126. With it, Article 1's provision establishing a permanent International Criminal Court became operative, and the Court acquired international legal personality under Article 4.

The threshold had been crossed nearly three months earlier: on 11 April, ten states deposited ratification instruments simultaneously, taking the total to 66 against the 60 required.

Article 126 set entry into force for the first day of the month after the sixtieth day following that deposit, which is how the date landed on 1 July.

Legally alive, operationally empty

The Court existed and the Statute bound its parties, but no judges were sitting and no trial could begin. The Preparatory Commission opened its tenth and final session that day to finish practical and technical arrangements.

The first Assembly of States Parties met in September 2002, and the first 18 judges were elected in 2003.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan marked the entry into force with a statement emphasizing prosecution when national states were unable or unwilling to act.

The line the date drew

1 July became a jurisdictional boundary: the Court cannot prosecute conduct occurring before that day under the Statute's ordinary jurisdiction.

The Court is complementary to national jurisdictions rather than a replacement for domestic courts, and it is independent of the United Nations, though the Statute provides for a formal relationship with the UN.

One detail often published as settled is not: the 1998 Rome adoption result of 120 in favour, 7 against and 21 abstentions came from an unrecorded vote. China, Israel and the United States publicly explained negative votes, but the UN did not record the identities of all seven opposing delegations.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 8 sources not yet audited

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