Developments in International Criminal Law (Foreword)

Abstract

Many of the contributions to this issue of the Journal focus on several recent historic developments in the field of international criminal law. In July of 1998, the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded an intensive five-week session in Rome by adopting a statute for such a. court. Although the United States voted against the statute, its vote, as several contributions to this issue make clear, does not signal U.S. opposition to an international criminal court as such, but, rather, concern that certain features of the statute produced by the Rome Conference may undermine the achievement of other international goals that the United States believes are no less critical for world order and the international protection of human rights. The United States has been a firm supporter of the two existing international criminal courts-the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)- and its support may prove just as crucial to the success of the ICC.