UNITED STATES: An assembly of 123 countries gathered at the United Nations agreed to allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute those responsible for the crime of aggression, officials said Friday. The state-parties to the Rome Treaty, which created the ICC, adopted by consensus on Thursday a resolution “on the activation of the jurisdiction of the court over the crime of aggression,” a court statement read. Aggression will be added to crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes, which the ICC is currently tasked with investigating and bringing to justice. The resolution adopted late Thursday, however, does not allow for retroactive prosecutions and only applies to state-parties, which means China, Russia and the United States will not be affected. Member-states can declare that they do not accept the jurisdiction of the court over the crime of aggression, complicating the application.

Source: Pakistan Today December 15, 2017 20:48 UTC