Promotion of the ICC

ICCLR has been and continues to be committed to supporting the International Criminal Court. The Centre has organized workshops to promote the ICC and developed resource tools to support countries' development of legislation and administrative procedures of the Rome Statute. more...

The First Review Conference of the Rome Statute was held in Kampala, Uganda between 31 May and 11 June 2010. The Review Conference considered amendments to the Rome Statute including the crime of aggression and the inclusion of the use of certain weapons as war crimes in the context of an armed conflict not of an international character. The Conference also took stock of the Rome Statute implementation and impact.

ICCLR’s ICC Manual and other tools have been presented for use in legal and policy development in numerous countries.

• ICCLR held regional workshops on the ICC from 2000-2002. In total, the workshops convened 400 delegates from 80 countries.  Workshops were held for the government, civil society and media (the “three pillars”) in:
• Pacific Islands (Cook Island/New Zealand) October 2000;
• Francophone States of Central Africa (Cameroon) February 2001;
• Caribbean (Jamaica) May 2001;
• Southern African Development Community (Namibia) May 2001;
• West Africa/ECOWAS Member States (Cote d’Ivoire) January 2002 9 (in collaboration with ICRC).

• ICCLR held country specific technical workshops on the ICC from 2002-2008, in the following countries:
• Thailand – 2002
• Cambodia – 2002
• Lesotho –2003
• Tanzania – 2003 
• Gabon –  2003
• Jamaica – 2004
• Samoa – 2004
• China –  2007-2008, including Harbin (2007), Beijing (2007, 2008), Tianjin (2008)

• ICCLR participated in ICC workshops in:
• Philippines – 2002
• Cambodia – 2002
• Laos – 2002
• Guiyang – 2006

ICCLR has attended almost all of the major international meetings for establishment of the ICC since 1992, including:

• International Meeting of Experts on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court – Vancouver, 1993.  ICCLR convened a five day meeting for over 70 leading criminal and international law experts from 30 countries.  The expert meeting’s final report was used by the UN’s Legal Office in the design of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
• UN Committee meetings for the Establishment of the ICC – 1995
• The UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rome on the Establishment of the ICC – 1998
• All ICC Preparatory Committee Meetings – 1996-2001. 
• Assembly of States Parties meetings – 2001, 2002, 2007.

ICCLR has produced a number of manuals and supplementary materials to assist countries in implementing their obligations under the Rome Statute.

The most recent of these is the updated Third Edition International Criminal Court: Manual for the Ratification and Implementation of the Rome Statute, to assist those States that are Parties to the Rome Statute and that are preparing to implement the Statute and to assist States that are contemplating ratification to review legal and constitutional concerns that may prevent ratification. The Manual has been designed to provide guidance on how States with different legal systems might implement their obligations into their national legal system.