PREPARATORY COMMITTEE ON ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS TWO-WEEK SESSION
Press Release
L/2846
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE ON ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT BEGINS TWO-WEEK SESSION
19971201 Key Topics Include International Cooperation, Judicial Assistance, Penalties, General Principles of Criminal LawInternational cooperation, judicial assistance, penalties and general principles of criminal law are key topics for discussion by the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court during its two-week session which began this morning.
The Chairman of the Committee, Adriaan Bos (Netherlands), outlining the programme of work for the Committee's fifth session, said it would also take up procedural questions and definitions of war crimes. The Committee had before it the International Law Commission's draft statute for the Court. It would be considering the draft statute's provisions that deal with penalties, extraditions and obligations of States, among others.
The Chairman said he had been encouraged by the debate on the court in the General Assembly's Sixth Committee (Legal) and the draft resolution approved on the subject. The Sixth Committee's work on the topic was making the Rome conference to adopt a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court a reality.
By the terms of the Sixth Committee draft resolution, the Rome conference would be held from 15 June to 17 July 1998. The Preparatory Committee will hold one more session in March/April next year.
During its current session, the Preparatory Committee is conducting its work within the framework of two working groups -- on international cooperation and judicial assistance, and on procedural matters. Following the conclusion of the opening meeting this morning, the Preparatory Committee began its working group discussions.
The next meeting of the Preparatory Committee will be held on a date to be announced.
International Criminal Court - 2 - Press Release L/2846 54th Meeting (AM) 1 December 1997
Background on International Criminal Court
According to the draft statute, the international criminal court will be a permanent court with the power to investigate and bring to justice individuals who commit the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The idea of a permanent court began with the unsuccessful attempt to establish an international tribunal after the First World War. Following the Second World War, the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crime tribunals set the stage for efforts to create a permanent court. It was first considered at the United Nations in the context of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Further development of the notion was effectively forestalled through differences of opinions for many years.
In 1992, the General Assembly directed the International Law Commission to elaborate a draft statute for an international criminal court (resolution 47/33). Further public interest was created by the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia in 1993 and for Rwanda in 1994.
In December 1994, the General Assembly, by resolution 49/53, established an Ad Hoc Committee opened to all Member States or members of specialized agencies to review the major substantive and administrative issues arising from the International Law Commission's draft statute. The following year, the Assembly established the Preparatory Committee with the mandate to draft a widely acceptable consolidated text of a convention for an international criminal court based on the International Law Commission's draft statute (resolution 50/46).
In its original format, the 60-article draft statute of the proposed international criminal court details the court's relationship with the United Nations; composition and administration; jurisdiction and applicable law; investigation and advancement of prosecution; trial; appeal and review; international cooperation and judicial assistance; and enforcement.
Officers
The Chairman of the Preparatory Committee is Adriaan Bos (Netherlands). The Vice-Chairmen are Cherif Basssiouni (Egypt); Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi (Argentina) and Marek Madej (Poland). The Rapporteur is Masataka Okano (Japan).
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