In July 1998, after years of preparatory work and five weeks of intensive negotiations, 120 states voted in Rome to approve a treaty intended to establish the first permanent International Criminal Court (ICC). Less than three years later, with a speed that surprised even the treaty's proponents, the treaty surpassed the sixty ratifications needed to bring it into force. The United States, joined by only six other states, voted against the treaty, and continues to search for ways to limit the new court's reach, even though almost all of the United States' closest allies have ratified the treaty or are moving towards ratification.

This outcome was not pre-ordained. The United States, under President Clinton, was predisposed to support efforts at creating an international criminal court. Such a court was consistent with the Clinton Administration's overall attitude towards human rights and accountability for human rights abuses, and with US support for the Yugoslavia and Rwanda war crimes tribunals. In 1994, the International Law Commission (ILC) produced a draft statute for the International Court, the culmination of years of work undertaken at the request of the United Nations General Assembly. This draft statute, which included a ‘gate-keeper’ role for the United Nations Security Council, helped trigger an official commitment from the Clinton Administration to support in principle the ICC project.

The ILC draft attracted numerous comments and criticisms from states and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) alike.