PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO HOLD SECOND SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 26 JULY - 13 AUGUST

22 July 1999

Press Release
L/2927

PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO HOLD SECOND SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 26 JULY - 13 AUGUST

19990722 Background Release

The Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court will begin a three-week second session at Headquarters on Monday, 26 July, to continue its elaboration of rules for the effective functioning of the Court.

The Commission is charged with drafting the Court's rules of procedure and evidence, and elements of crimes within the Court's jurisdiction. Work on those issues will be carried out within two working groups established at the Commission's first session last February. The Commission will also continue preliminary consideration of the definition of the crime of aggression and the conditions under which the Court shall exercise its jurisdiction over that crime.

The Court will be established only after 60 States ratify the Statute which created it at the Rome United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries last year. So far, only three States -- Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago and San Marino -- have ratified the Statute.

The Rome Conference agreed that the draft text on the rules of procedure and evidence and elements of crimes should be finalized before 30 June 2000.

At its first session (16-26 February), the Preparatory Commission concentrated, with respect to the issue of rules of procedure and evidence, on the rules pertaining to the following parts of the Rome Statute: Part 5 (Investigation and Prosecution), which contains nine articles specifying the duties and powers of the prosecutor, and the role, functions and powers of the Pre-Trial Chamber, among others; Part 6 (The Trial), which includes the rights of the accused and protection of victims and witnesses; and Part 8 (Appeal and Revision), covering the issue of appeal and compensation for unlawful arrest or detention.

At that session, Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi (Argentina) was designated Coordinator for the Working Group on the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, and Herman van Hebel (Netherlands), Coordinator of the Working Group on Elements of Crimes. Three other Coordinators were also appointed to take responsibility for the rules of procedure and evidence relating to specific parts of the Statute. They are Rolf Fife (Norway), Part 7 (Penalties);

- 2 - Press Release L/2927 22 July 1999

Phakiso Mochochoko (Lesotho), Part 9 (International Cooperation and Judicial Assistance); and Medard R. Rwelamira (South Africa), a Vice-Chairman of the Preparatory Commission, Part 4 (Composition and Administration of the Court). In another action during the first session, Tuvalu Manongi (United Republic of Tanzania) was asked to coordinate work on the definition of the crime of aggression.

Other issues the Commission will consider at future sessions include a relationship agreement between the Court and the United Nations; and the basic principles governing a Headquarters Agreement to be negotiated between the Court and the Government of the Netherlands, which will host the Court. Other questions are financial regulations and rules; the rules of procedure of the Assembly of States Parties; and an agreement on the privileges and immunities of the Court.

Participation in the Preparatory Commission is open to all States that were invited to the Rome Conference, including those that have not yet signed the Statute. Representatives of relevant regional intergovernmental organizations and international bodies, including the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, may participate as observers. Representatives of non-governmental organizations may also participate in the plenary and other open meetings of the Commission.

The 13-part Rome Statute contains some key provisions covering jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over internal armed conflicts; a well-defined and limited role for the Security Council in certain circumstances; and issues concerning gender and children.

The Court will be the first permanent international tribunal with powers to prosecute individuals, not States, accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It will have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, once a definition of that crime is reached. The Court will be complementary to national judicial systems and will be able to assume jurisdiction only after it determines that a national system is unwilling or unable to do so.

Officers

Officers of the Preparatory Commission are Philippe Kirsch (Canada), Chairman; Muhamed Sacirbey (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Medard Rwellamira (South Africa), Vice-Chairmen; and Salah Suheimat (Jordan), Rapporteur.

* *** *