ASIL Task Force Report on the United States Policy Toward the International Criminal Court (ASIL, April 2009)

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The American Society of International Law (ASIL) independent Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward the International Criminal Court (ICC) published its 2009 Report encouraging U.S. engagement in the ICC. According to the official press release, the Report “recommend[s] that President Obama announce a policy of positive engagement with the Court.” While the report “does not recommend that the United States join the Court in the immediate future,” it does ask that the new administration “participate in the [2010] Review Conference [of the Assembly of States Parties] and otherwise engage with the Court to help shape it into an institution with which the United States can, in its interests, work constructively.” The Task Force notes that participation at the Conference is necessary, especially since one of the issues discussed will include “the definition of the crime of aggression within the Court's jurisdiction—a question that will inevitably implicate U.S. interests.”