Research Paper on:
Overview of the International Court System

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
When the idea was first put forth into the international community there was a great chorus of support, but now, some four years later, the United States has pulled out  of their support of the International Criminal Court, leaving many in both the national and international communities shaken and angry with the U.S. "The Twentieth Century was the bloodiest in  recorded history. 174 million people were killed in genocides and mass murders. Too often the victims cries for justice went unanswered by an indifferent world"(USA for ICC, 2002).  This is exactly why the International Criminal Court was created. In 1998, when the ICC (International Criminal Court) was first established, it was determined that they would only judge  those international crimes such as murder, genocide, and war crimes. Most of the crimes that the ICC rule over include massive numbers of people. The ICC steps in to prosecute  when the host country either cannot, or will not, prosecute the criminal or criminal groups, themselves. The Rome Statue served as the model for the creation of the treaty  which established the ICC. Over the last few years it has been ratified nearly 75 times with nearly 139 signatures from various countries. When a country signs the treaty it  means that they have agreed to abide by the findings of the ICC and will not work against the treaty. Originally the United States signed the Treaty in the year  2000, but only two years later, in 2002, the Bush Administration would refuse to acknowledge the ratifications and tenets of the treaty. In effect, the United States unsigned the treaty(USA  for ICC, 2002). Additionally, the United States passed several laws into their own legislation which exempted peacekeepers from the jurisdiction of the ICC, and it is reported that for some