Although the idea dates back to the aftermath of the First World War, it was only in 1945 that the first successful international organs of criminal justice – the Nuremberg and Tokyo International Military Tribunals – were established, to address war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War. The process of creating a permanent international criminal court dates back to the end of the Second World War, but was virtually suspended in the 1950s due to the complex international political environment of the Cold War. Talks about the establishment of such a judicial body resurfaced in the early 1980s and gained momentum in the 1990s; meanwhile, the large-scale atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda prompted the United Nations to set up two ad hoc tribunals in the 1990s. A series of negotiations to establish a permanent international criminal court that would have jurisdiction over serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed subsequently led to the adoption of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in July 1998 in Rome. It embodied the international community’s resolve to ensure that those who commit serious crimes do not go unpunished. The ICC is the first treatybased, permanent international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international concern. Several mixed tribunals, comprising elements of both international and domestic jurisdiction, and special chambers within national courts have subsequently been established to try those responsible for crimes committed in specific contexts
