ASP Newsletter2009-01-ENG
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Newsletter ASP 2-ENG.qxp:Newsletter E.qxd 12/17/09 5:36 PM Page 1 Assemblée N des États Parties Assembly of States Parties e ICC-ASP-NL-02.b/09-En w s l e ASP Special Edition #2 Visit by the President of Chile t Visit by the President of Chile and From left: two new States Parties Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor, President Michelle Bachelet and t On 26 May, the President of Chile, H.E. Michelle Bachelet, visited Judge Sang-Hyun Song, President of the Court the Court, accompanied by a delegation of parliamentarians from e both the governing coalition and the opposition, as well as with the President of the United Nations Committee against Torture, The 110 States Parties to Mr. Claudio Grossman, and the President of the Inter-American the Rome Statute Court of Human Rights, Ms. Cecilia Medina. r President Bachelet affirmed that the ideal situation would be if no case at all existed to be taken to trial at the Court, as a token of its effectiveness and the reach of its discouraging effect. N A few weeks later, Chile deposited its instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. o In July, the Czech Republic also deposited its instrument of v ratification, thus bringing the number of States Parties to 110. e continued on page 15 m Deposit of the instrument of ratification of the Czech Republic at the United Nations b From left: H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser, e President of the Assembly of States Parties, r H.E. Mr. Martin Palouš, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, 2 H.E. Mr. Anders Lindén, Permanent Representative of Sweden 0 to the United Nations, Mr. Bill Pace, Convenor of the CICC, and 0 Ms. Annebeth Rosenboom, 9 Head of the United Nations Treaty Section. © UN Photo Maanweg 174, 2516 AB The Hague, The Netherlands – Maanweg 174, 2516 AB La Haye, Pays-Bas www.icc-cpi.int/menus/ASP/ 1 Telephone – Téléphone +31(0)70 515 98 06 / Facsimile – Télécopie +31(0)70 515 83 76 Newsletter ASP 2-ENG.qxp:Newsletter E.qxd 12/17/09 5:36 PM Page 2 Bureau of the Assembly Review Conference agenda / Proposed amendments to the Rome Statute Bureau of the Assembly Factsheet 2009: Number of meetings The Bureau submitted for consideration by the Assembly the following reports prepared by its two Working Groups. Bureau 18 Hague Working Group 27 The Hague Working Group The New York Working Group New York Working Group 9 Report on the independent oversight Report on the arrears of States Parties mechanism (ICC-ASP/8/2/Add.3); (ICC-ASP/8/41); Oversight Committee 20 Report on options for replenishing the Report on the Review Conference (ICC- Contingency Fund and Working Capital ASP/8/43 and Add.1); Fund (ICC-ASP/8/37); Report on equitable geographical Report on legal aid for victims’ legal representation and gender balance in the Review Conference agenda representation (ICC-ASP/8/38); recruitment of staff (ICC-ASP/8/47) Report on Legal Aid (Defence): Alternate At the Review Conference of the Rome Methods for the Assessment of Indigence The Bureau also conveyed the Report of the Statute, scheduled to begin on 31 May (ICC-ASP/8/39) Oversight Committee on the permanent ; 2010, States would consider some premises (ICC-ASP/8/34 and Add.1). Report on family visits for detainees mandatory issues and recommendations (ICC-ASP/8/42). arising from the Rome Statute and the Report on cooperation (ICC-ASP/8/44); Final Act of the 1998 Rome Diplomatic and Conference: Report on the strategic planning process of the International Criminal Court – Review of article 124 of the Statute; (ICC-ASP/8/46). – Crime of aggression (article 5, paragraph 2, of the Statute; resolution F of the Final Act); In accordance with resolution E of the Final Act, the Conference would also consider the crimes of terrorism and drug crimes. Furthermore, the Conference would consider other potential amendments to the Rome Statute, as well as undertake a From left: Mr. Marcelo Böhlke (Brazil), facilitator for the Review Conference, stocktaking of international criminal H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser, President of the Assembly, justice. and Mr. Renan Villacis, Director of the Secretariat of the Assembly at the 12 October meeting of the New York Working Group Proposed amendments to the Rome Statute As at 30 September 2009, the following proposals were submitted for consideration by States Parties. Belgium Mexico Amendment n°1: add in the list of the article 8, paragraph Amend article 8, paragraph 2 (b), to include the use or 2, e) the use of three sorts of weapons (poison and threat of use of nuclear weapons as a war crime empoisoned weapons, asphyxiating, poison or other gases and all analogous liquids, materials or devices and Netherlands bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body) Amend article 5 to include of the crime of terrorism Amendments n°2 and 3: add directly to the list of war Norway crimes in situations of international armed conflict and in situations of non international armed conflict the use of Amend article 103, paragraph 1, to establish a mechanism biological and chemical weapons, anti-personnel mines for a possible role for an international or regional and some weapons falling under the Convention on organization in the enforcement of sentences certain conventional weapons Trinidad and Tobago and Belize Amend article 5 to include the crime of international drug trafficking 2 Newsletter ASP 2-ENG.qxp:Newsletter E.qxd 12/17/09 5:37 PM Page 3 Seminar on International Criminal Inter-sessional meeting on the Crime of Aggression Justice Inter-sessional meeting on the Crime of Aggression Seminar on International Criminal Justice An informal inter-sessional meeting on the Crime of Aggression was hosted by the Conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton The non-paper on the conditions for the University, at the Princeton Club in New exercise of jurisdiction focused on York, from 8 to 10 June 2009. outstanding issues, in particular draft article On 19 May 2009, the New York Working 15 bis, paragraph 4, of the proposals for a Group of the Bureau held a seminar The meeting, chaired by H.R.H. Prince Zeid provision on aggression, which deal with the entitled “International Criminal Justice: Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan) and open to possible roles of the United Nations Security The Role of the International Criminal all States and representatives of civil society, Council, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court, focused on the elements of the crime of the United Nations General Assembly or the Court”. The event was organized by the aggression and on the conditions for the International Court of Justice in triggering the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the exercise of jurisdiction. jurisdiction of the Court. The issue of the United Nations and co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Guatemala, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago. The seminar was aimed at engaging stakeholder organizations in a dialogue on the various aspects of international criminal justice by assessing its current stage, with a particular focus on the role, the mandate and the functioning of the Court. As envisioned by Mr. Marko Rakovec (Slovenia), the facilitator for the Plan of action of the Assembly, this event would constitute the first in a series of such seminars which could be organized in different regions and on various topics related to achieving universality and full implementation of From left: Mr. Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, Director of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser, President of the Assembly, H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Chairperson, and Mr. the Rome Statute. Renan Villacis, Director of the Secretariat of the Assembly entry into force procedure (article 121, Elements of crimes paragraph 4 or 5) is directly linked to this question. The non-paper on the elements of crimes had been prepared on the basis of the proposals The Chairman noted that the non-paper was for a provision on aggression, elaborated by based on the following underlying the Special Working Group on the Crime of assumptions, which derived from the past Aggression in February 2009. work of the Group: SASP Publications * The purpose of the Elements is to assist the Seminar on International Criminal Court in the interpretation and application of – All three existing trigger mechanisms Justice : The Role of the International the definitions of the crimes contained in the would apply to the crime of aggression; Criminal Court Rome Statute. The existing Elements, adopted – In the case of a Security Council referral, in September 2002, relate to article 6, 7, and 8 the Court could exercise jurisdiction over of the Statute, and would thus be amended to the crime of aggression irrespective of the also include the elements of the crime of consent of the State concerned; and Axxjrgq~ tk Syfyjx Pfwynjx yt ymj Rtrj Syfyzyj tk ymj Isyjwsfyntsfq Cwnrnsfq Ctzwy aggression. – In case of a State referral or proprio motu Sjrnsfw ts Isyjwsfyntsfq Cwnrnsfq Jzxynhj: Tmj Rtqj tk ymj Isyjwsfyntsfq Cwnrnsfq Ctzwy The proposed draft elements, which are investigation, the territoriality or subject to further consideration by the nationality requirement of article 12, Assembly, adhere to the logic of article 30 of paragraph 2, of the Statute would apply. the Rome Statute by listing the material and mental elements the Prosecutor would have to prove in any given case. The material elements can be categorized as conduct, 19 May 2009 United Nations Headquarters consequence or circumstance and are followed by the corresponding mental * Arabic, English, French and Spanish element of intent or knowledge.