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Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court must be proposed, adopted, and ratified in accordance with articles 121 and 122 of the Statute. Any state party to the Statute can propose an amendment. The proposed amendment can be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote in either a meeting of the Assembly of States Parties or a review conference called by the Assembly. An amendment comes into force for all states parties one year after it is ratified by seven-eighths of the states parties. However, any amendment to articles 5, 6, 7, or 8 of the Statute only enters into force for states parties that have ratified the amendment. A state party which ratifies an amendment to articles 5, 6, 7, or 8 is subject to that amendment one year after ratifying it, regardless of how many other states parties have also ratified it. For an article 5, 6, 7, or 8 amendment, the Statute itself is amended after the amendment comes into force for the first state party to ratify it. Amendments of a purely institutional nature enter into force six months after they are approved by a two-thirds majority vote in either a meeting of the Assembly of States Parties or a review conference.
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Summary of adopted amendments to the Rome Statute
In June 2010, two amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court were adopted by the Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda. The first amendment criminalizes the use of certain kinds of weapons in non-international conflicts whose use was already forbidden in international conflicts. The second amendment defines the crime of aggression. Per the language of that amendment, the Court will only have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression after two additional conditions are met: (1) the amendment has entered into force for 30 states parties and (2) on a date after 1 January 2017, the Assembly of States Parties has voted in favour of allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction. In November 2015, an additional amendment to remove article 124 from the Statute was adopted during the 14th meeting of the Assembly of States Parties in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Summary
An amendment to article 8 was adopted on 10 June 2010 at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute in Kampala, Uganda. The amendment had originally been proposed by Belgium and it was forwarded to the Review Conference by the eighth session of the Assembly of States Parties.
The amendment adds to article 8(2)(e) three clauses which make it a war crime to employ poison, "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices," or expanding bullets in an armed conflict not of an international character. The Rome Statute already makes the use of such means of warfare a war crime in international armed conflicts.
States parties to the amendment
Because the amendment is to article 8, it will come into force only for those states parties which have ratified it, one year after doing so. As of September 2016, 32 states parties have ratified the document. However, the Rome Statute itself was amended on 26 September 2012 after the amendment came into force for the first state party to ratify it. Since 26 September 2012, the amendment has been part of the Statute and any state that becomes a party to the Statute can choose to also be a party to the amendment.
Summary
Amendments on the crime of aggression were adopted on 11 June 2010 at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute in Kampala, Uganda. The amendments were proposed by Liechtenstein, which chaired the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, the committee directed by the Assembly of States Parties to form a definition for the crime of aggression, which was originally absent from the Statute.
The amendments define the crime of aggression in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314. Acts of aggression are: invading another state; bombing another state; blockading the ports or coastlines of another state; attacking the land, sea, or air forces, or marine or sea fleets of another state; violating a status of forces agreement; using armed bands, groups, irregulars or mercenaries against another state; allowing territory to be used by another state to perpetrate an act of aggression against a third state.
While the amendments will come into force one year after being ratified, the amended text says that only crimes of aggression committed one year or more after the thirtieth ratification are within the jurisdiction of the Court. Furthermore, a decision is to be taken by the Assembly of States Parties with a two-thirds majority vote after 1 January 2017 to actually exercise jurisdiction.
While upon a United Nations Security Council referral the Prosecutor can open an investigation against the national of any state, this is not the case with state referral and proprio motu investigations by the Prosecutor. A state party can opt out of these amendments, and nationals of non-states parties are not subject to the Court's jurisdiction. Additionally, the Prosecutor must wait for a determination of the Security Council regarding an act of aggression. If the Security Council determines an act of aggression has taken place, the Prosecutor may proceed. If the Security Council does not act within six months, the Prosecutor can proceed provided that a Pre-Trial Chamber approves that move. The Security Council keeps its right to defer investigations for a period of one year.
States parties to the amendment
As of September 2016, 32 states parties have ratified the amendment. Per the amendments, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court may begin one year after the 30th ratification of the amendment but not before the Assembly of States Parties has approved the commencement of jurisdiction after 1 January 2017.
Amendment to article 124 (2015)
On 26 November 2015 during their 14th meeting, the Assembly of States Parties adopted the amendment to article 124 in The Hague in the Netherlands. The amendment deletes article 124 from the Rome Statute. Article 124 is a transitional provision, which allows a state, upon becoming party to the Statute, to declare that it does not accept the jurisdiction of the Court over war crimes committed in its territory or by its nationals for a period of seven years.
States parties to the amendment
As of October 2016, three state parties have ratified the amendment. Per article 121(4) of the Rome Statute, this amendment will enter into force one year after seven-eighths of states parties (currently 109 states parties) have ratified it.
Proposed amendments
A number of amendments have been proposed by states parties, but have either not been considered or adopted by the Assembly: