ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 introduces the main questions animating the book and presents the main arguments. It argues that we need to gain deeper understanding of state cooperation to better evaluate the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) record so far. The chapter explains the setting of the Court as a judicial institution in a political world by outlining the Rome Statute’s key provisions on state cooperation as well as introducing the main actors in the ICC–state relationship, including the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and domestic courts. It introduces the main critiques that have been raised against the Court and the typology of state behaviors that forms the basis for charting states’ behaviors throughout the book. Other sections address the reasons behind these state behaviors as well as the Court’s response to them. The chapter ends with presenting an overview of the chapters to follow.
