[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] issued a statement [press release] today advocating for governments to more fully support the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. The statement, which marked the tenth anniversary of the ICC coming into effect, called on nations to demonstrate their support for the court by “publicly committing to backing up the court politically and financially.” According to Marek Marczynski who manages Amnesty International’s International Justice Research, Policy and Campaign office, the ICC should be supported as it gives “hope for justice to victims of heinous crimes around the world that justice will be done.”

The ICC came into effect July 1, 2002 as a result of the passage of the Rome Statute [statute text] which sought to “establish an independent permanent International Criminal Court in relationship with the United Nations system, with jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.” Since then the ICC, sitting in the Hague, has conducted numerous high profile cases of international crimes, notably the recent conviction [JURIST report] of former Congo militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the first conviction of the court.