Chad announces intent to withdraw from International Criminal Court
Chad announced its intent to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing the Court's limited and uneven effectiveness since it began operating in 2002 and a perceived bias against African states
Chad submitted formal notification of withdrawal to the United Nations Secretary-General, as required under the Rome Statute
Chad becomes the fourth African country since 2025 to move toward ICC withdrawal, following Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which announced their exit the previous year
The announcement follows a similar move by Venezuela days earlier, adding to a broader pattern of state withdrawals from the Court
The International Criminal Court and the Rome Statute (1998/2002)
The ICC is a permanent international tribunal established by the Rome Statute, adopted on 17 July 1998 at a UN diplomatic conference and entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 states. It is the first permanent international court with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and (since 2018) the crime of aggression. The Court is headquartered at The Hague and is distinct from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which settles disputes between states rather than prosecuting individuals.
Key Details
- Rome Statute adopted 1998; entered into force 1 July 2002
- Jurisdiction: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crime of aggression
- Complementarity principle — the ICC acts only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute
- Chad ratified the Rome Statute in 2006; the Statute entered into force for Chad on 1 January 2007
Chad's withdrawal removes it from the Rome Statute system nearly two decades after it became a State Party, reducing the number of African states bound by the Court's jurisdiction.
Article 127 — Withdrawal Mechanism under the Rome Statute
Article 127 of the Rome Statute allows any State Party to withdraw by written notification to the UN Secretary-General (the treaty's depositary). Withdrawal takes effect one year after the notification is received, unless a later date is specified. Withdrawal does not affect ongoing investigations or proceedings that commenced before the effective date, nor does it discharge the state from obligations, including financial ones, accrued while it was a party.
Key Details
- One-year notice period before withdrawal takes legal effect
- Does not retroactively erase the Court's jurisdiction over crimes committed while the state was a Rome Statute party
- Burundi was the first state to complete withdrawal, effective 27 October 2017, after its parliament voted for exit in 2016
- Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso (members of the Alliance of Sahel States) jointly submitted withdrawal notifications in June 2025, with their withdrawals framed as a rejection of alleged neo-colonial bias in the Court's case selection
Chad's exit will only become legally effective a year after notification, following the same procedural pathway used by Burundi and the Sahel states before it.
India's Position on the Rome Statute
India is not a State Party to the Rome Statute and did not sign or ratify it, having abstained at the concluding vote of the Rome Conference (15 June–17 July 1998). India's principal objections were that the Statute subordinates the ICC to the UN Security Council — giving its permanent members referral and deferral powers over non-party states — and that it did not classify the use of weapons of mass destruction as a war crime or include terrorism as a distinct crime.
Key Details
- India abstained from adopting the Rome Statute in 1998; it has neither signed nor acceded to it since
- Key Indian objection: UNSC referral power (used for Sudan/Darfur in 2005 and Libya in 2011) binds non-party states without their consent
- The ICC has 13 State Parties in Africa that have seen exits or withdrawal moves since 2016 (South Africa and Gambia initially announced withdrawal in 2016 but later rescinded)
The pattern of African exits echoes long-standing non-Western criticisms of the ICC's institutional design — the same structural objections India cited in 1998 for staying outside the Rome Statute system.
- ICC established by the Rome Statute: adopted 1998, entered into force 1 July 2002
- Chad ratified the Rome Statute in 2006; became a State Party on 1 January 2007
- Withdrawal takes effect one year after UN notification (Article 127)
- Burundi: first state to complete ICC withdrawal, effective 27 October 2017
- Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso: withdrawal notifications submitted June 2025 (Alliance of Sahel States)
- Of 13 ICC investigations opened since inception, 9 concern African states
- India: abstained from the Rome Statute vote in 1998; remains a non-party