This article discusses the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the creation and functioning of the International Criminal Court (ICC or the Court). The creation of the Court is referred to as the ‘civil society achievement’ by numerous scholars. NGOs advocating for an effective, just and independent international criminal court joined their efforts in a unique form of cooperation – the Coalition for the ICC, a loose network of NGOs, based on several common principles. During the Rome Conference, the Coalition actively engaged with State representatives and managed to influence numerous provisions of the final Statute, such as the Prosecutor’s power to initiate investigations on their own initiative, and the prohibition of a wide range of sexual and gender-based crimes.

The active involvement of NGOs in the work of the ICC continues today. The Rome Statute contains explicit references to the NGOs, which provide a basis for a potentially important contribution of the NGOs to the proceedings of the Court, as well as the work of the Assembly of States Parties. In addition, local presence and knowledge makes the NGOs a natural partner of the Court in a number of its functional areas, such as outreach, victims’ issues or complementarity.

The continuous engagement of NGOs with the ICC, from the Rome Conference to the present, makes them indispensable to the Court.