Complementarity, Jurisdiction and Admissibility: The ICC and Kenya

The International Criminal Court came into force as a result of the Rome Statute of 1 July 2002. It is a court of last instance set up to prosecute the world's most egregious crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crimes of aggression and the crimes against the administration of justice. The court is anchored on three international legal cornerstones of complementarity, jurisdiction and admissibility. Kenya broke new ground by being the first state where the chief prosecutor used his powers 'proprio motu'. It is also the only case where a sitting president and his vice president are all inductees of the court, and the first case whereby a sitting president has appeared before the court for legal proceedings.The Kenyan case is also the first case whereby all the inductees are members of the elite.