US rejects International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Americans

The US' top law enforcement officer has told the head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that the United States rejects any assertion of the court's jurisdiction over Americans, the Justice Department said Thursday.

In a letter sent to ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that because the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute—the treaty that established the court—it has never consented to the ICC's jurisdiction.

"The ICC has acted in an increasingly lawless and illegitimate manner," Blanche wrote.

"Its record of selective enforcement and credible allegations of internal misconduct raise serious doubts about the ICC's impartiality, credibility, and legitimacy."

The letter also cites the American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002, which rejects ICC jurisdiction over US service members (largely members of the military), government officials, and civilians.

The law prohibits US cooperation with the court and authorizes the president to use all necessary and appropriate means to secure the release of any US person detained pursuant to an ICC warrant or request.

According to Blanche, the United States will not cooperate with any ICC investigation, inquiry, summons, or proceeding involving US persons.

"The Department of Justice is fully committed to defending our Nation's sovereignty and protecting the rights of U.S. persons against unlawful international overreach," he wrote.

"The United States will not subordinate the liberty and security of our people to a foreign tribunal in The Hague with no accountability to any electorate or fidelity to the Constitution."