The International Criminal Tribunal Act
The General Assembly,
Acknowledging the devastating impact of genocide, crimes against persons, and war crimes;
Concerned that impunity for Severe International Crimes encourages further acts and denies victims closure;
Recognizing that a complementary international judicial body is needed when domestic judicial systems are unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes;
Hereby:
1. Establishes the following definitions:
- “Genocide” as:
- Acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, as such;
- Intentionally killing, forcibly sterilizing or preventing births, causing serious mental or bodily harm, forcibly transferring children between groups, or inflicting conditions of life intended to physically destroy the group;
- “Crimes Against Persons” as murder, enslavement, torture, sexual violence, persecution of a group based on political, racial, or religious views, or enforced disappearance, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population;
- “War Crimes” as serious crimes committed during external or internal war against civilians, Prisoners of War, or combatants who are hors de combat; specifically: willful killing, torture, medical or scientific experiments, or cruel and degrading treatment; or the wanton destruction of property, cities, or towns not imperatively demanded by the necessities of war, as reasonably assessed by the decision-making body at that time, not excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, or the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure;
- “Severe International Crimes” as Genocide, Crimes Against Persons, War Crimes, and any other crimes deemed by current or future World Assembly resolutions;
2. Establishes the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT), an independent and complementary judicial body of the World Assembly;
3. Establishes the ICT's responsibilities;
- Investigate and prosecute individuals accused of Severe International Crimes, subject to the restrictions in Clause 10;
- Hold fair, transparent, and impartial trials, the burden of proof being beyond a reasonable doubt;
- Take confidential witness and victim testimonies;
4. Stipulates that judges of the ICT be appointed by a non-partisan chamber (ICT Justice Selection Panel) consisting of seven senior legal officers nominated by World Assembly nations (limited to one nominee per term), and chosen by the WA Secretariat, to serve 5-year terms;
5. Decrees that the ICT Justice Selection Panel select twelve judges of the ICT meeting these criteria:
- They must have extensive legal experience;
- They must be of good character, fair, and impartial;
- They must be mentally and physically fit for the role;
6. Mandates the Pre-Trial Chamber consist of three randomly assigned judges, who shall not sit as Trial Judges on that case;
7. Judges of the ICT serve a single five-year term;
8. Subject to the restrictions in Clause 10, establishes that the ICT can only initiate an investigation when:
- A member state refers a case to the court accompanied by credible evidence establishing reasonable grounds that a Severe International Crime has been committed; or
- The ICT Prosecution receives credible evidence establishing reasonable grounds to believe a Severe International Crime has occurred, with express approval from the majority of an independent Pre-Trial Chamber;
9. The ICT may not develop, hire, or contract any armed force;
10. The ICT may only investigate or prosecute cases when:
- A nation’s domestic judicial system is unable or unwilling to do so and the crime occurred on, or was perpetrated by a national of a WA Member State;
- A domestic judicial system is determined “unable or unwilling” if an independent ICT Pre-Trial Chamber finds:
- The proceedings were intended to shield an accused person;
- The proceedings were not independent or impartial;
- An unjustified delay occurred inconsistent with a genuine intent to prosecute;
- The system has collapsed or is unavailable to obtain the accused, gather evidence, or carry out proceedings;
- The system cannot try Severe International Crimes;
- If a Pre-Trial Chamber determines any of the above, the ICT may proceed with investigation or prosecution, even if the accused has already been tried or convicted;
11. If the ICT finds someone guilty, it may impose imprisonment, monetary fines, or other forms of punishment, provided the ICT may not punish convicts with torture, capital punishment, or otherwise cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment;
12. Member states must assist the ICT in good faith with investigations, arrests, warrants, and sharing of evidence to the extent of their capabilities;
13. Mandates that the ICT shall only investigate, prosecute, and rule on violations occurring after the passage of this Act;
14. If a nation willfully refuses to comply with this resolution:
- The Pre-Trial Chamber shall publish its findings publicly;
- The ICT may draw adverse inferences and proceed with trial.
Changelog: Clarified wording, ensured the Act applied to non-humans as well, fixed the ICT’s authority, affirmed the complementarity principle, strengthened the preamble, clarified definitions, fixed loopholes in Clause 8a, slightly edited Clause 1d to clarify it was to prosecute leaders and removed a part that was unrealistic, tightened Clause 9 and 10, added Clause 1e to reduce redundancy, clarified jurisdiction, allowed ICT to enforce non-compliance, tightened Clause 8, tightened Clause 14, added exact procedural details regarding justice selection process, numbers, and who appoints them, clarified sentencing restrictions, clarified clause 1a, 1b, and 1c.
This is my polished ninth draft. Last call for feedback! This bill is probably a couple of days from the World Assembly.





