This article is intended to review the South Korean Implementing law of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (hereinafter “ICC Act”). The ICC Act, entitled “Act on the Punishment of the Crimes within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court” was enacted in December 21, 2007 as Act No. 8719. The ICC Act has mainly two purposes: 1) to criminalize crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) under the Korean domestic law and 2) to provide legal basis for the surrender of the persons and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between South Korea and the ICC.
For these purposes, the ICC Act provides crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and offenses against the administration of justice as punishable crimes under this Act. The ICC Act allows the Korean Extradition Act and Korean Act on Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal matters (MLAT) to be applied with relevant modifications in the cases of the surrender of the persons between the ICC and South Korea and MLAT between the ICC and South Korea respectively.
The author thinks that the ICC Act criminalizes all crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC under Korean domestic law and provides penalties for each crimes enough to fulfill the obligation of the State Party to the Rome Statute. With respect to cooperation with the ICC, the ICC Act may be the legal basis for the South Korea to surrender of the persons to the ICC and to give legal assistance in criminal matters to the ICC even though the South Korean government should take due diligence in the special character of the cooperation between the ICC and a State Party to the ICC Statute.