From Kampala to New York-The Final Negotiations to Activate the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the Crime of Aggression

The article focusses on the final negotiations this December during the Assembly of States Parties meeting, where states decided to activate the ICC'S jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. The article commences with a brief background on prosecuting the crime, the negotiation of the definition and conditions for the exercise of ICC jurisdiction over it, and the Kampala Review Conference adoption of the crime. It then discusses the dispute as to jurisdiction that developed post-Kampala, and how it was apparently resolved at the December meeting. The article then assesses the potential impact of activating the ICC'S 4th crime in terms of deterrence, and whether the-December activating resolution actually resolved the jurisdiction dispute, taking the view that it did not, and that the activating resolution was arguably an improper modification of the Kampala agreement and jurisdiction may not be as limited as what appears to have been agreed.