On 31 March 2005, the UN Security Council (hereinafter, Council) passed resolution 1593 which referred the situation concerning the Darfur region in Sudan to the International Criminal Court (hereinafter, ICC). Darfur is the fourth situation to be referred to the ICC since the entry into force of its statute on 1 July 2002. States on whose territories situations have occurred made the first three referrals to the ICC under Article 13(a) of the ICC Statute. The fourth referral of the situation in Darfur is unique in so far as, for the first time in the ICC's short history, the Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and Article 13(b) of the ICC Statute, referred a situation to the ICC.

The following part two discusses five aspects of Council resolution 1593: the situation in Sudan (2.1), the negotiations leading to the adoption of resolution 1593 (2.2), the legal basis of the referral (2.3), the obligation to cooperate with the ICC (2.4), and the scope of the referral (2.5). Part three focuses on the jurisdiction of the ICC over African Union (hereinafter, AU) or UN peacekeepers of third states operating in Sudan. Part four discusses the evolving relationship between the Council and the ICC after the first referral by the Council.