The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights has supported first establishing, then improving the International Criminal Court (ICC). Between June 1995 and June 2001, the Institute conducted 19 preparatory international conferences, seminars, and government expert meetings in Siracusa and abroad.

These meetings produced a number of documents, including the Siracusa Draft, which was put before the United Nations Preparatory Committee in 1996, and fostered the process leading to the establishment of the International Criminal Court by the Diplomatic Conference held in Rome on 17 July 1998. Two of the three Chairmen of the Diplomatic Conference were members of the Institute’s Board: Professor Giovanni Conso, President of the Conference, and Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, President of the Drafting Committee. Subsequently, the Institute played an important role in the creation of the ICC’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence.

After the ICC became operational in 2002, the Siracusa Institute continued to show its commitment to the improvement and development of the Court by contributing to its Capacity Strengthening Program. The Institute organized three workshops and one study visit to Rome between 2005 and 2008, attended by the President, the Vice-President, the Registrar, the Judges of the Court, and 16 international experts.