Definition of Aggression: Kampala Review Conference of the Statute of International Criminal Court (June 2011)

After many years of negotiations among representatives of various governments within preparatory committees, the Review Conference of the Statute of International Criminal Court was held in Kampala, Uganda, from May 31 to June 11, 2010. One of the most important items on the agenda of the conference was elaboration on definition of the crime of aggression and jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on this crime. After two weeks of intense negotiations, State Parties finally adopted a resolution on the amendments to ICC Statute with regard to the crime of aggression. The resolution adopted at Kampala Conference has two important parts entitled “Article 8 bis” (on the definition of crime of aggression) and “Article 15 bis” (on the enforcement of ICC’s jurisdiction). In addition, Article 15(3) was added on the enforcement of ICC’s jurisdiction on the crime of aggression when a case is referred to the Court by the UN Security Council. On the definition of crime of aggression, State Parties agreed to take the UN General Assembly Resolution 3314, passed on December 14, 1974, as the basis for the definition.Defining the crime of aggression, determining conditions under which ICC will have jurisdiction and, in general, including this crime in the Statute were valuable development. However, certain ambiguities surrounding the definition as well as such limitations as delaying enforcement of ICC’s jurisdiction on this crime until 2017, as well as allowing the Security Council to play a part in determination of the act of aggression, have partially reduced the efficacy of the amendments related to the enforcement of ICC’s jurisdiction on the crime of aggression.