Editing War crime (section)

=== Formation of the International Criminal Court ===
[[File:My Lai massacre.jpg|thumb|Bodies of some of the hundreds of Vietnamese villagers who were killed by U.S. soldiers during the [[My Lai massacre]]]]
On July 1, 2002, the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC), a treaty-based court located in [[The Hague]], came into being for the prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. Several nations, most notably the United States, China, Russia, and Israel, have criticized the court. The United States still participates as an observer. Article 12 of the [[Rome Statute]] provides jurisdiction over the citizens of non-contracting states if they are accused of committing crimes in the territory of one of the state parties.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998 |url=http://legal.un.org/icc/STATUTE/99_corr/cstatute.htm |publisher=UN Treaty Organization |access-date=October 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222421/http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The ICC only has jurisdiction over these crimes when they are "part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm |title=Rome Statute, Part II, Article 8 |publisher=[[United Nations Office of Legal Affairs]] |access-date=October 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222329/http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref>