The United States is expected to renounce any involvement in a treaty that would create the world's first international criminal court and a permanent war-crimes tribunal. 

Former President Clinton signed the treaty in 1998, but the U.S. Senate was never asked to ratify the pact. News reports in Washington now say that President Bush's administration has decided to reject any involvement in the treaty. 

Unidentified senior officials are quoted as saying the previous signing of the treaty will no longer be regarded as valid. This means the United States will not recognize the jurisdiction of the future international court, and will not submit to its orders. 

Reports about the White House decision began circulating late Saturday, but as yet there has been no official comment in Washington. The new U.S. stance on the treaty is expected to be announced formally on Monday by State Department officials. 

The New York Times says administration officials also will take the position that the United States will not be required to observe the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties -- a 1969 pact that outlines the obligations of nations to obey other international treaties. 

Members of the Bush administration say the current plan for an international criminal court could expose American citizens to frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions. 

Despite the U.S. position, more than 60 nations have already ratified the treaty, and the international criminal court is due to begin operations next year in The Hague. 

It will become the world's first new transnational judicial body since the International Court of Justice, known as the World Court, was created at the end of World War II in 1945. 

The World Court was established to settle disputes between states. The new court will create a jurisdiction for prosecution of individuals for war crimes and other offenses such as genocide. Until now, such cases have only come before special tribunals, modeled on the Nuremberg trial of Nazi officials after World War II. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

Email this article to a friend.
Printer Friendly Version