The International Criminal Court, the Security Council and Darfur: A Critique

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Chapter 2:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ICC AND UNSC:
In light of the Rome Statute, the relationship between the Court and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is characterized by three aspects; referral of a situation by the Security Council to the ICC, deferral of an ICC investigation or prosecution for a renewable period of one year, and the cooperation between the two institution in the situations that referred to the Court by the Council, or by a State party, or initiated proprio motu by the Prosecutor.
The relationship between the ICC and the UNSC has been a subject of debate since the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (Rome, 15 June - 1 7 July 1998). Opinions are still vary on this issue. There are those who believe the relationship between the ICC and the UNSC, as described in Rome Statute, is not something new, but rather is an application to the Council's authority as defined in Chapter VII of the Charter which gives it the mandate "to take whatever steps it deems appropriate in the event of a breach of, or threat to, international peace and security". There are also some who think that this relationship would lead to the politicization of the ICC and undermining of ist independence, in the sense that "to allow the selection of cases to be so dependent on issues of collective security, and to be overseen by a political body concerned with it, is at odds with the fundamental goal and unique focus of all criminal courts to adjudicate the culpability of individual suspects".
The Security Council is the most powerful organs of the United Nations. It composed of five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and ten non-permanent members with two-year terms elected by the General Assembly. The Council is charged by the member states with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security". Under Article

Ammar Mahmoud is a Sudanese diplomat, currently working at the Department of International Law and Treaties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan. He previously served in Sudan's diplomatic missions in Jeddah, Abuja and Nairobi.
Mr. Mahmoud graduated from the University of Khartoum in 2002 with a B.Sc. in Political Science and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations in 2007. Additionally, he obtained a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M) in International Crime and Justice from the University of Turin/ UNICRI in Italy in 2012.