Russia refused to participate in the work of the International criminal court – RBC

Photo by: Lori

Russia is not going to become party to the Rome Statute of the International criminal court, which reglamentary the work of the court. In January, the court opened an investigation into crimes during the war in Georgia

the order of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin “about the intention not to become party to the Rome Statute of the International criminal court” was published on the official portal of legal information. The order States that the notice of intention of Russia not to become a party to the Statute should be sent to the UN Secretary General.

the Rome Statute is the document regulating the work of the International criminal court (ICC). If a country has not ratified the Rome Statute, its citizens are not under the jurisdiction of the ICC. At the moment the Statute of the ICC ratified by 124 countries. Russia has signed the Statute but not ratified it.

In January 2016, the ICC granted the request of the Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the court started the investigation of crimes in the fighting in South Ossetia in August 2008.

In February 2016, the Russian justice Ministry said that Russia will not cooperate with the ICC investigation, as the country has not ratified the Rome Statute. The press service of the Russian foreign Ministry then said that at the time the country’s signature of the Statute (2000) Russia hoped that the organization “will be an important factor of the rule of law and stability in international relations”, which, according to the foreign Ministry, “did not happen”. “In this regard, Russia will have to consider in principle the question of the relation to the International criminal court”, – stated in the message.

in the Summer the representative of the ICC office reported to RBC that the collection of evidence and investigation of the events in Georgia are in the early stages. He noted that the amount received from both the Georgian and South Ossetian sides of the complaints was “significant”.

the ICC was established in 1998, since the adoption of the Rome Statute. During this time, the judicial organization has issued only three sentence — all of them belonged to African warlords and was sentenced for war crimes.