IBA International Criminal Court and International Criminal Law (ICC & ICL) Programme
Our Work
The IBA International Criminal Court & International Criminal Law (ICC & ICL) Programme, based in The Hague, works to increase cooperation with and support for the ICC and other accountability efforts, with the goal of strengthening the Rome Statute system globally and achieving fair, effective, and accessible justice for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.
- We consult and engage with the Office of the Prosecutor, Presidency, and Registry of the ICC, with the independent Offices of Public Counsel for the Defence and Victims, and with the ICC Bar Association. We also consult with State representatives, civil society organisations, academics, and international lawyers. The IBA ICC & ICL Programme is the IBA's representative to official bodies of the ICC, including the Assembly of States Parties, and is the IBA's representative to the NGO Coalition for the ICC.
- We collaborate with key partners on activities to increase engagement of the global legal community with the ICC and on international law.
- We monitor and analyse emerging issues of particular relevance to lawyers. Our substantive work includes thematic legal analysis of proceedings, ad hoc evaluations of legal, administrative, and institutional issues which could potentially affect the development of international justice, and expert legal analysis on issues relevant to our mandate. Programme information is disseminated through reports, expert discussions, workshops and other events.
- We support the development of international criminal lawyers, through the annual IBA ICC Moot Court Competition, and through the ICC & ICL Legal Internship Programme.
Since its establishment in 2005, the IBA ICC & ICL Programme has contributed to the development of international criminal justice through monitoring and analysing issues related to fairness and equality of arms at the ICC, and through conducting outreach to deepen the understanding of the place of the ICC within the broader landscape of international justice and in particular contexts.
Latest news
Pursuing the Arrest and Surrender of Suspects at Large to the International Criminal Court. A Guide for States Parties to the Rome Statute (November 2025)
The Guide offers 30 recommendations on concrete measures that States Parties can take, individually and collectively through the ASP, to strengthen cooperation with and support for the enforcement of ICC arrest warrants. These recommendations build on the six strategic goals identified in the July 2025 IBA ICC & ICL Programme report No Arrests, No Trials, No Justice: A Strategic Framework for Strengthening Efforts to Execute International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants.
Both reports call on States Parties to revitalise efforts to develop an action plan for arrest and surrender, focusing on strengthening:
- conditions at the ICC to encourage arrest and surrender;
- the ICC’s capacity to track suspects and pursue arrests;
- logistical and technical support for tracking, arrest and surrender;
- political support for state cooperation;
- responses to non-cooperation; and
- national laws to provide effective cooperation with arrest and surrender operations.
Strengthening the International Criminal Court and the Rome Statute System: A Guide for States Parties (2nd Edition, October 2024)
Strengthening the ICC and the Rome Statute System: A Guide for States Parties provides detailed guidance and recommendations for all existing and future States Parties to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations in the Rome Statute and guarantee a stronger and more effective ICC.
Part 1 focuses on the role that all States Parties should play in ensuring the Assembly’s effective oversight of the ICC.
Part 2 calls on all States Parties to establish comprehensive and effective national frameworks to implement their individual obligations to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes nationally, in accordance with the principle of complementarity, and to cooperate fully with the ICC’s judicial processes.
Part 3 examines the role that States Parties should play individually and collectively through the Assembly to promote the universal ratification of the Rome Statute, to ensure that all States Parties implement their responsibilities and obligations under the Rome Statute, and to protect the Court from political attacks.
The Guide has been structured to be a resource for representatives of States Parties, and other stakeholders, to support the effective functioning of the ICC, including through the development and regular review of effective national implementing legislation.
The second edition of the Guide for States Parties, published in October 2024, offers an updated set of recommendations for States Parties and the Assembly that takes into account the implementation of many of the recommendations of the Independent Expert Review of the ICC as well as the new Court and Assembly leadership, bringing fresh perspectives and strategies to advance the work of the Court.
IBA ICC Moot Court Competition
Since 2017 the IBA has partnered with Leiden University’s Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies to stage the IBA ICC Moot Court Competition, which attracts law students from across the globe to test and sharpen their skills for careers as international lawyers. As of 2021, a new five-year Memorandum of Understanding positions the IBA as the primary supporting partner of the event.
The IBA ICC & ICL Legal Internship Programme (The Hague)
The ICC & ICL Legal Internship Programme takes place at the IBA Hague office. Updates and any other information on how and when to apply can be found by clicking the button below. Intern positions are only available to graduate law students, postgraduate law students, and newly qualified lawyers.
There are no vacancies currently available.
The 24th Assembly of States Parties (December 2025)
The 24th session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court took place from 1-5 December 2025 in The Hague, the Netherlands. In advance of the ASP, the IBA ICC & ICL Programme issued a briefing paper setting out Priorities and Recommendations for the 24th ASP Session, which include recommendations for States Parties to increase political support for and cooperation with the Court, protect the Court and those cooperating with it from attacks and threats, as well as to take measures to ensure fair trials.
The ICC & ICL Programme convened a panel discussion on 'Arresting suspects of international crimes - States Parties legal obligations to cooperate and civil society contributions'
During the event, the IBA ICC & ICL Programme launched the report ‘Pursuing the Arrest and Surrender of Suspects at Large to the International Criminal Court. A Guide for States Parties to the Rome Statute’. The Guide offers recommendations to assist States Parties and the Assembly of States Parties in strengthening their individual and collective efforts to ensure cooperation for the arrest and surrender of suspects to the ICC.
The IBA ICC & ICL Programme also convened a side event on ‘Accountability for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine' co-hosted by Costa Rica, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, to discuss current efforts for accountability of the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Read our news release on the conclusion of the ASP session.
ASP Special Session on the review of the amendments on the crime of aggression (July 2025)
A Special Session of the Assembly of States Parties was convened from 7-9 July 2025 to review the Rome Statute amendments on the crime of aggression agreed on during the 2010 Kampala Review Conference. The IBA was represented by the IBA ICC & ICL Programme.
The different jurisdictional regime established for the crime of aggression has become particularly evident after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The lack of an existing international mechanism that can try Russia’s top political and military leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, has necessitated discussions about an ad hoc mechanism, eventually resulting in the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The IBA has strongly supported the creation of this Special Tribunal, in line with its position that the crime of aggression, as a core international crime, must not go unaddressed.
In advance of the ASP Special Session, the IBA ICC & ICL Programme issued a position paper calling on ICC States Parties to amend the conditions under which the ICC can exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, with the aim of ensuring that the Court can investigate and prosecute acts of aggression effectively and in line with the Court’s jurisdiction over other Rome Statute core crimes. The Programme further called on all States Parties to ratify the amendments on the crime of aggression adopted by the ASP Special Session and to consider ratifying all Rome Statute amendments adopted so far without delay.
During the session, a large number of States Parties expressed support for amending the Rome Statute. Several other States Parties did not support the adoption of an amendment, requesting instead more time to discuss and agree on possible amendments. Almost all States Parties stressed the need for the Assembly to decide on the matter by consensus.
In the final resolution, Assembly committed to strengthening the jurisdiction of the Court over the crime of aggression and decided to convene another special ASP session in 2029 to examine the amendment proposals submitted so far and others that may be submitted in the future. The Assembly further decided to convene an intersessional meeting in 2027 to advance discussions.
