A groundbreaking investigation in which Erna Paris explores the policies behind America's opposition too the creation of a permanent international criminal court and the implications for the world at large. The ICC is the first permanent tribunal of its kind. The mandate of the ICC is to challenge criminal impunity on the part of national leaders and to promote accountability in world affairs at the highest level. On 11 March 2003, when the new court was inaugurated, one country was consicuously absent - the US.