[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] reported its busiest year on record [text, PDF] to the UN General Assembly [official website] on Tuesday. In the report, the ICC called for greater support [press release] from the UN Security Council[official website]. The ICC report talked about the futility of its decisions without the power to enforce them and discussed the courts’ heavy workload and 13 outstanding arrest warrants. The court has eight situations under investigation and an additional eight under preliminary examination.

Since its inception in July 2002 the ICC [JURIST backgrounder] has become a dominant organization in international relations and the premiere tribunal for the prosecution of war crimes. Earlier this week a group of 130 African organizations published a letter [text] urging [press release] African members of the ICC to declare their support for the court [JURIST report] at the upcoming African Union (AU) [official website] summit. Last month Kenya was the first country to approve a motion to leave the ICC [JURIST report; JURIST op-ed]. The move is in response to the trials [ICC backgrounder] of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto, who are accused of crimes against humanity and inciting violence after contested elections in 2007.