All you ever wanted to know about "self-execution" and the Rome Statute

In his recent commentary on the UN Human Rights Council and Burma, Mark Leon Goldberg considers how the United States could support the Court without joining it. These days, he points out, when it comes to ratifying international treaties, Obama sure does have his work cut out for him.

While ratification of the Rome Statute in the US might not happen tomorrow, we know what we're heading towards, and have a good map of how to get there. One thing you can be sure of hearing about in the years to come is the issue of "self-execution." While it is a straightforward concept, its theoretical application for US law and the Rome Statute can be tricky: simply put, in the process of US lawmaking, a treaty is "self-executing" if it requires no additional legislation to supplement it. No body has yet determined whether or not the Rome Statute would be self-executing.

For your use as an advocate for the ICC, we've produced a brand new guide to the question of "self-execution." In straight-forward, no nonsense language, we've broken down common questions about the complex process of how a treaty like the Rome Statute would come into effect in the US. See it for yourself here, and let us know what you think!