WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1597/99 by Marco PANNELLA International Criminal Court
29. 1. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 27 E/141 (2000/C 27 E/172) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1597/99 by Marco Pannella (NI) to the Council (8 September 1999) Subject: International Criminal Court On 18 July 1998 the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rome adopted the Statute of the permanent International Criminal Court for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Ratification by at least 60 countries is required in order for the International Criminal Court to be established. To date, while 84 countries have already signed the Statute, only four countries, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, San Maríno and Italy have also ratified it. In other words, whilst all the Member States of the Union have signed the Statute, only Italy has already ratified it. What information is available to Finnish Presidency on the state of affairs regarding the process of ratification of the Statute by the Member States? What steps has the Finnish Presidency taken, or does it intend to take, to encourage swift ratification of the Statute by the Member States in order to enable the Court to become operational by the end of the year 2000? Further, what steps has the Finnish Presidency taken, or does it intend to take, to encourage the signing and/or ratification of the Statute by third countries, in particular those with which the Union is linked through association agreements or cooperation and partnership agreements? Reply (8 November 1999) 1. The Council shares the view that the establishment of a permanent international criminal court (ICC) will represent a decisive step forward to ensure that those who commit the most serious crimes of international concern are no longer able to do so with impunity. Accordingly, the European Union strongly supports the early establishment of the Court. All EU Member States have signed the Rome Statute adopted on 17 July 1998 and are determined to ensure that the Court will be operational as soon as possible. 2. The EU has welcomed the first ratifications of the Statute, including that of Italy on 26 July 1999. The other Member States are committed to ratifying the Statute as speedily as possible. The ratification of a major convention of international law, particularly one whose implementation involves national criminal law authorities, is a substantial task. For some States, ratification of the Statute requires constitutional amendments. Member States regularly inform one another of progress in their ratification process. In tentative estimates, most Member States foresee that, subject to the various legislative and/or constitutional steps proceeding according to schedule, they could have ratified the Rome Statute by the end of next year. Member States closely co-ordinate their positions in the framework of the current Preparatory Commission for the Establishment of the ICC. 3. The EU is also acting to promote the signature and the ratification of the ICC Statute world-wide. In her address to the UN General Assembly on 21 September, the President of the Council reaffirmed the Unionís commitment to the early entry into force of the Rome Statute and urged all States to sign and ratify it. Similarly, at the opening of the latest session of the ICC PrepCom (July-August 1999), the Presidency has issued a statement to that effect. In the margins of this PrepCom session, the Presidency also organized a meeting bringing together legal experts from Member States and from the associated States as well as the EFTA countries. The purpose was to express the will and the readiness of EU Member States to provide those States which would need it with legal assistance for questions relating to ICC ratification, as some of them had mentioned internal difficulties in this regard. Some EU Member States gave presentations of their national approaches, and some specific legal problems were discussed. The EU intends to pursue such cooperation. EU Member States also regularly promote accession to the ICC Statute in their bilateral contacts with third countries