PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT HOLDS SEVENTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS 26 FEBRUARY - 9 MARCH

Background Release

PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT HOLDS

SEVENTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS 26 FEBRUARY - 9 MARCH

The Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court begins its two-week seventh session at United Nations Headquarters on Monday, 26 February to continue work on rules and practical arrangements for the effective operation of the future Court.

During the session, scheduled to end on 9 March, the Commission will consider a new item on Draft Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of States Parties -- a body of States that have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute, or treaty establishing the Court.  The Statute was adopted at a Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on 17 July 1998 in Rome.

In addition, the Preparatory Commission will continue work on a draft relationship agreement between the Court and the United Nations, financial regulations and rules and a budget for the first year of the Court’s operation, and draft agreement on the privileges and immunities of the Court.  Work will also continue on the preparation of proposals on the elements and conditions under which the Court could exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.  Once agreement is reached on a legal definition of that crime, the draft text will be presented to an International Criminal Court amendment conference, expected to take place seven years after the Court becomes operational.

The Court will be a permanent judicial body that will investigate and bring to justice individuals who commit the most serious violations of international humanitarian law, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and, once defined, the crime of aggression.  The Court will formally be established once the treaty establishing it -– commonly referred to as the Rome Statute –- receives 60 ratifications.  As of 8 February, 139 countries have signed the treaty and 28 have ratified it.  The United States is among the latest countries to sign it.  The Court will only have jurisdiction over crimes that are committed after the Rome Statute enters into force.

The Preparatory Commission completed the first phase of its work at the end of its fifth session on 30 June 2000 with the adoption of a complementary set of draft Rules of Procedure and Evidence, as well as the draft elements of those crimes.  The deadline was set by the Final Act (Resolution F) of the Rome Conference.

The Preparatory Commission, established by the General Assembly pursuant to Resolution F, held three sessions in 1999 and 2000.  Two more sessions are planned for this year, the next scheduled from 24 September to 5 October.  The Preparatory Commission will remain in existence until the conclusion of the first meeting of the Assembly of States Parties, during which its work will be forwarded to the Assembly for final approval.

Participation in the work of the Preparatory Commission is open to all States that were invited to the Rome Conference, including those which 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.  Non-governmental organizations also may participate in the Commission’s open meetings.  The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will now participate in the work of the Commission, following its admission to the United Nations.

The 13-part Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by an unrecorded vote of 120 in favour to 7 against, with 21 abstentions, on 17 July 1998 at the Rome Conference.  States Parties to the Rome Statute, the Security Council and the Court’s Prosecutor will have the power to bring cases before the Court, which will be presided over by judges from 18 different countries.  It will have an independent Prosecutor elected through secret ballot by States that have ratified the Statute

The officers of the Preparatory Commission are as follows:  Chairman, Philippe Kirsch (Canada); Vice-Chairmen, George Winston McKenzie (Trinidad and Tobago); Medard R.Rwelamira (South Africa); and Muhamed Sacirbey (Bosnia and Herzegovina).  The rapporteur is Salah Suheimat (Jordan).

The Coordinators for the various issues are:  Tuvako Manongi (United Republic of Tanzania), Crime of Aggression; Cristian Maquieira (Chile), Relationship Agreement between the Court and the United Nations; Georg Witschel (Germany), Financial Regulations and Rules of the Court; and Phakiso Mochochoco (Lesotho), Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Court.

To facilitate its tasks at future sessions, the Preparatory Commission designated the following as contact points for the remaining items:  Saeid Mirzaee-Yengejeh (Iran) for Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of States Parties and for a budget for the first financial year; and Zsolt Hetesy (Hungary) for the basic principles governing a Headquarters Agreement to be negotiated between the Court and the host country, and for general issues.  

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