The International Criminal Court and the Crime of Aggression

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force in 2002 and the ICC will soon be fully operational. Earlier in the ICC process, an international conference was held in Trento to address a specific issue that is still unresolved in the post-Rome negotiations: the crime of aggression. Article 5 of the ICC Statute includes aggression, yet the Statute postpones the exercise of its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression until such time as further provisions have been prepared on the definition of this crime and on the related conditions for the Court's intervention. This important volume collects the papers given by the participants at the Trento Conference. The volume is divided into three parts: the historical background of the crime of aggression; the definition of the crime of aggression, in light of proposals in the Preparatory Commission; and various points of view on the relationship between the Court's competence in adjudicating cases of alleged crimes of aggression and the Security Council's competence.

Contents: Part I: The Crime of Aggression from Nuremberg to the Rome Statute: The historical background, Umberto Leanza; Origins of the criminalization of aggression: how crimes against peace became the 'Supreme International Crime', William A. Schabas; Will aggressors ever be tried before the ICC?, Muhammad Aziz Shukri; The debate within the preparatory commission for the International Criminal Court, Mauro Politi. Part II: The International Criminal Court and the Crime of Aggression: Questions of Definition and Jurisdiction: The definition of the crime of aggression and the ICC jurisdiction over that crime, Mohammed M. Gomaa; Aggression and the ICC: views on certain ideas and their potential for a solution, Phani Dascalopoulou-Livada; Defining the crime of aggression or redefining aggression?, Ioana Gabriela Stancu; Definition of the crime of aggression: state responsibility or individual criminal responsibility?, Elizabeth Wilmshurst; The crime of aggression: definitional options for the way forward, Hans-Peter Kaul; The exercise of the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction over the crime of aggression: short term and long term prospects, Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo. Part III: The Crime of Aggression and the Relationship between the International Criminal Court and the Security Council: The respective roles of the ICC and the Security Council in determining the existence of an aggression, Giorgio Gaja; Reflections on the role of the Security Council in determining an act of aggression, Saeid Mirzaee Yengejeh; The ICC and the Security Council on aggression: overlapping competencies?, Paula Escarameia; The ICC and the Security Council: about the argument of politicization, Marja Lehto; Conclusions générales, Luigi Condorelli. Part IV: Afterword: The International Criminal Court and the Crime of Aggression: From the Preparatory Commission to the Assembly of States Parties and Beyond: An outsider's view, Giuseppe Nesi; An insider's view, Silvia A. Fernández de Gurmendi; Index.

Both editors are Full Professors of International Law in the Law Faculty of the University of Trento, Italy. In addition, Mauro Politi is currently Judge of the ICC and Giuseppe Nesi is the Legal Counsel at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN in New York.