You may think this does not matter very much. The judges did not rule out issuing arrest warrants for genocide if further information came to light. Five counts of crimes against humanity-murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape-ought to be enough for anyone, not to mention two war crimes, attacking civilians and pillaging. And there may be little chance that Bashir will ever be arrested, let alone tried.

That is not because he is a head of state. When the world's first permanent international criminal court was set up in 1998 by a treaty known as the Rome Statute, the member states agreed that a defendant's official capacity would not be a defence. Nor do I say Bashir is unlikely to be arrested because his country is not a party to the Rome Statute. A UN Security Council resolution requires Sudan to co-operate with the court.

I think it is unlikely that Bashir will be arrested because other states have no powers to do so. It is true, of course, that an arrest warrant issued by the court must be enforced by all 108 parties to the Rome Statute. But this does not apply to Bashir while he retains his immunity as a head of state. And if he ever feels he is losing control over his own government, he could take refuge in a country that has not signed up to the court. One of these, incidentally, is the US: expect a diplomatic incident when Bashir insists on attending the UN General Assembly later this year.