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ion that would give that role to the General Assembly or to the International Court of Justice, if an accusation of aggression were made and the Security Council did not act within a certain time. In September 2002, the Assembly of States Parties to the Court established a special working group, open to all States, to elaborate proposals for a provision on aggression.” [2] 6

Article 12(1) - Preconditions to the exercise of jurisdiction - declares: “[A] State which becomes a Party to this Statute thereby accepts the jurisdiction of the Court with respect to the crimes referred to in Article 5.” [2] 7

Article 5

Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court

1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. The Court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute with respect to the following crimes: [2] 7

(a) The crime of genocide;

(b) Crimes against humanity;

(c) War crimes;

(d) The crime of aggression.

2. The Court shall exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once a provision is adopted in accordance with articles 121 and 123 defining the crime and setting out the conditions under which the Court shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to this crime. Such a provision shall be consistent with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. [2] 8

However, Article 5.2 of the Rome Statute states that:

'[T]he Court shall exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once a provision is adopted in accordance with articles 121 and 123 defining the crime and setting out the conditions under which the Court shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to this crime. Such a provision shall be consistent with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.' [2] 9

The statute defines each of these crimes except for aggression: it provides that the court will not exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression until such time as the states parties agree on a definition of the crime and set out the conditions under which it may be prosecuted. [3] 0

The Assembly of States Parties of the ICC adopted such a definition at a review conference in May 2010. [3] 1

In sum “Who is the aggressor?

The aggressor is the country that starts the war. But the United Nations definition defines the aggressor more narrowly, as the country that first uses armed force. [3] 2

Review Conference on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and Developments

The first-ever Review Conference on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) took place in Kampala, Uganda from 31 May to 11 June 2010. Its main objective was to consider adoption of amendments, particularly defining 'crimes of aggression'; revision of Article 124 of the Statute.

Article 124, ‘Transitional Provision’, reads as follows:

“[N]otwithstanding article 12 paragraph 1, a State, on becoming a party to this Statute, may declare that, for a period of seven years after the entry into force of this Statute for the State concerned, it does not accept the jurisdiction of the Court with respect to the category of crimes referred to in article 8 when a crime is