How Are Countries, Or Individuals, Referred To The...

[sandyRoe]

... International Criminal Court?

[Buenchico]

Alleged crimes can be referred to the ICC by a resolution of the United Nations Security Council.  

Also though (quote):
"In the absence of a UNSC referral of an act of aggression, the Prosecutor may initiate an investigation on her own initiative or upon request from a State Party"

https://www.icc-cpi.int/about/how-the-court-works

[ichkeria]

On March 17 this year, following an investigation by the ICC, judges issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for alleged war crimes involving the abduction of children from Ukraine. Of course the UNSC in this instance, being one of the UN's several dysfuntional bodies, would never have referred this in a million years.

Any country may arrest these individuals should they set foot there, whereas as I understand it signatory nations to the ICC are obliged to arrest indicted individuals should they do so.

[ichkeria]

So this above instance was an example of the latter situation cited by Buenchico.

[Buenchico]

It's worth remembering that many countries don't recognise the ICC and won't allow their citizens to be brought before the Court. They include Russia, China, the USA and Israel.  (Palestine though has been a signatory since 2015).

[Peter Pedant]

yeah but no but - - if the citizens of the refusing countries travel they may be arrested - Putin has gone to Araby today which must only be a non-signatory

[Buenchico]

Going back to Sandy's original question, only individuals can be prosecuted by the ICC, not countries or their governments.

[ichkeria]

That's right. The crimes have to be clearly defined, evidence-based of course, and attributable to individuals.

Ukraine had asked the ICC to investigate Russian war crimes as earlier as in 2015, when the invasion was already a year old. Although Russia is not a signatory to the ICC, the alleged crimes were commited on the terroritory of a country which does accept the ICC. It has no powers of arrest, and must rely on the governments of signatory nations to enforce its warrants, or the discretion of other nations to do so.