The System of Cooperation with the International Criminal Court in the Framework of the Security Council's Referral Resolutions

The cooperation of Parties and non-parties with the International Criminal Court is one of the most important factors for the realization of justice by this institution. The commitment of states in this area is based, as the case may be, on the Statute of this institution or on the Security Council resolution, or both. When referring the situation by the Security Council, the basis for cooperation for non-member States, is the resolution of this council, and for States Parties, is the statute. If the resolution of the Council entails the commitment of the members to cooperate, then both the statute and the resolution shall be considered as binding sources. This article, while investigating the legal foundations of a commitment to cooperation of non-member states with the Court, concludes that although the Security Council is able to impose obligations beyond the statute to non-member states, it has not yet exercised its discretion with regard to the cases of Sudan and Libya. Therefore, the commitment of such states to "full cooperation" with the Court should be regarded as a commitment based on the Statute.