Amsterdam - Three finalists were named Thursday in an international architectural competition to design a new home for the International Criminal Court (ICC). An international jury chaired by Liesbeth van der Pol, the Dutch government's chief architect, picked designs from Ingenhoven Architects of Germany, Schmidt Hammer Lassen/Bosch & Fjord, Arhus of Denmark and Wiel Arets Architects & Associates of the Netherlands.
The winning firm will be decided in the coming months. Construction on the Hague-baed court will begin in 2011. Work is scheduled to be completed by 2014.
The three designs were chosen from 19 entries sent in from all over the world. All entries will be on display in the atrium of the Hague's city hall from November 19-25.
The ICC, currently in temporary housing in the Hague, is the first permanent court to prosecute international war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Operating under the auspices of the United Nations, it was established by the Statute of Rome in 1998, an international agreement that has been signed by 106 countries.
Since it began operating in 2002, the ICC has investigated war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, the Central-African Republic and Darfur.
On July 14, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir for alleged crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur region of western Sudan.
Sudan does not recognise the ICC and has dismissed the warrant for the arrest of its president.
