THE LGBTQI+ UNDER THE ROME STATUTE AND THE PROSPECTS OF THE STATUTE’S UNIVERSAL RATIFICATION

Since the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), came into force in July 2002, it has been ratified or acceded to by 125 states at present. These numbers have been fluctuating due to many factors, among others, for its universal ratification and its jurisdiction. Article 7(3) of the Rome Statute defines the term “gender” to be only male and female, but the Office of the ICC Prosecutor came out with a number of Policies on “Gender-Based Crimes” to broaden such a definition to also include LGBTQI+ persons as part of its definition. Based on the doctrinal analysis, this paper argues that to legally recognise LGBTQI+ persons under the term “gender”, it must be amended and approved by the Assembly of the State Parties to the Rome Statute and ratified by the State Parties in accordance with Part 11 and Article 121 of the Rome Statute. This paper concludes that such recognition, if succeeds, will hinder universal ratification or accession to the Rome Statute since many countries, both Parties and non-State Parties to the Rome Statute have not legally recognised LGBTQI+ persons under their respective laws.