The International Criminal Court is a distinct international organization headquartered in The Hague, in the Netherlands. It works in close cooperation with the United Nations but is independent of it. The Court is composed of four ‘organs’: the Presidency, the Chambers, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry. Other organizations also exist within the Court, such as the Assembly of States Parties and the Review Conference, as well as a considerable number of subsidiary bodies, such as the Board of Trustees of the Trust Fund for Victims and the Victims and Witnesses Unit.

Headquarters in The Hague

The seat of the Court is The Hague, but it may sit elsewhere if it considers this desirable. The Netherlands was the only State to offer its services, despite rumours that circulated before and during the Diplomatic Conference about Rome, Lyon and Nuremberg as possible candidates. The Hague is already the seat of the International Court of Justice as well as of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and other international judicial organizations. Its candidacy must have seemed so unbeatable to possible competitors that they declined even to throw their hats into the ring.

A ‘headquarters agreement’ between the International Criminal Court and the Netherlands is required by Article 3(2) of the Rome Statute. The final negotiated text of the Headquarters Agreement was approved by the Assembly of States Parties in December 2006.