La Corte Penal Internacional fue creada por el Estatuto de Roma y entró en vigencia el 1 de julio de 2002. Es una corte permanente compuesta de 18 jueces independientes y sus oficinas centrales están en La Haya, Los Países Bajos, aunque puede encontrarse en cualquier otro lugar. La función de la Corte es la de establecer las responsabilidades individuales por actos de genocidio, crímenes contra la humanidad y crímenes de guerra. La Corte ejercerá su jurisdicción cuando las autoridades nacionales no puedan o no deseen hacerlo.

[Translate to Espagnol:] The ICC does not replace national courts. It works complementary to national courts. The Court will only investigate and prosecute if a State is unwilling or unable to genuinely prosecute. The basis of exercising jurisdiction is that the “territorial state” (the State on whose territory the situation which is being investigated has taken or is taking place), or the State of nationality (the State whose nationality is possessed by the person who is being investigated) must be a party to the Statute.

The ICC may exercise jurisdiction over acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of war in three particular instances:

• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->When the State party has referred the case to the Court;
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->When the Security Council has referred the case to the Court;
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->When the prosecutor has decided to investigate a case on his or her own decision and on the basis of information received.

When a case has been referred to by the Security Council it does not matter whether the State is part to the Rome Statute. Also a State can accept the jurisdiction of the Court in particular cases even though the State is not party to the Rome Statute.