Czech Republic becomes State Party to International Criminal Court

The Czech Republic has become the latest country to ratify the Rome Statute, the pact that established the International Criminal Court and tasked it with trying people accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Czech Republic has become the latest country to ratify the Rome Statute, the pact that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) and tasked it with trying people accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Czech Government deposited its instrument of ratification to the Statute yesterday, according to a news release issued by the ICC in The Hague.

When the Statute enters into force for the Czech Republic on 1 October, it will become the 110th nation to become a State Party to the ICC. All 27 European Union members are now States Parties.

The Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries and ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said, in an interview with the UN News Centre last month, it will “take 20 or 30 years but I believe in the near future all countries will be part of the Court.”