Jas perhaps you can describe the lay of the land of this Rome thing, and why you think this is a good idea. Thanks.
Sure.
The ICC Treaty was agreed in 1998 by over 100 countires. The Treaty establishes the ICC with jurisdiction over the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The idea being to replace ad hoc tribunals (such as with Nuremburg, Tokyo, ICTY and ICTR) with a permanent court.
The ICC has jurisdiction for acts occuring after July 2002 by a national of a party to the agreement or within the territory of a party to the agreement or when the UN Security Council refers a matter to the Court. Jurisdiction is complementary to that of national courts - in general, a case will be inadmissible if it has been or is being investigated or prosecuted by a State with jurisdiction.
There are 18 judges organized into the Pre-Trial Division, the Trial Division and the Appeals Division. The judges of each Division sit in Chambers which are responsible for conducting the proceedings of the Court at different stages. The ICC has a Prosecutor responsible for conducting investigations and prosecutions before the Court. The Prosecutor is elected by State Parties for a 9 year term.
To date, 4 investigations have been launched by the Court. These relate to the actions of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda; actions of the Union of Congolese Patriots and others in the DR Congo; the actions of Jean-Pierre Bemba in the Central African Republic; and the actions of the Janjaweed in Darfur. The trial of Thomas Libanga (related to the DR Congo investigation) is due to begin next February.
I submit that we should join the 108 member states of ICC (whcih includes almost all of Europe and South America, most African states, Austalia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico) because I believe in judicial responses to these crimes. I believe in the rule of law and I believe that it's firm extention to these crimes is better than ad hoc responses which are more likely to be guided by politics than law. The establishment of a permanent court brings greater certainty about the law in these areas and to how the global community should act regarding these crimes.
For reference:
The Rome Statute of the ICCAre you doing this to further freak DWTL? 
That's just a nice fringe-benefit.
