On July 17, 2023, the Rome Statute celebrated its 25th anniversary. The same day marked the 5th anniversary of the activation of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. The Assembly of States Parties to the ICC led commemorations at UN Headquarters in New York City. The all-day event included a tribute to co-founder of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression and former Nuremberg prosecutor, Benjamin Ferencz, along with others who had played key roles at Rome and have since passed away.

Extensive focus on the crime of aggression occurred both during the plenary celebrations as well as the ministerial level side-event, “The ICC and the Crime of Aggression: In Defense of the UN Charter,” co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Germany and Liechtenstein to the United Nations. Several states, including Austria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Switzerland, expressed their interest in amending the Rome Statute to bring the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in line with the ICC’s jurisdiction over its other crimes. They also expressed the need for a special tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression in the situation in Ukraine.

For the recordings of the commemoration, see here and here. For the video of the side event, see here.