The seventh session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has concluded in The Hague, with the Assembly adopting seven resolutions.

The Assembly—which consists of representatives from the 108 States which have thus far ratified the ICC’s Rome Statute—decided that the Review Conference shall be held in Kampala, Uganda, during the first semester of 2010.

The central objective of the Review Conference is to determine the legal definition of the crime of aggression. Under Article 5 of the Rome Statute, the Court has jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, in addition to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, the ICC has yet to indict any accused with the crime of aggression due to the absence of a single agreed upon legal definition.

Although the resolution stipulating that the Review Conference would be held in the Ugandan capital was adopted by consensus, some NGOs present at the week-long assembly in The Hague questioned whether it was appropriate to have the Review Conference in a “situation country” before the ICC.

New home for the ICC

Concerning the construction of the permanent premises of the ICC, the Assembly accepted the offer of the Netherlands to provide a loan of up to a maximum of € 200 million, to be repaid over a period of thirty years.

The permanent premises of the ICC will be located on a 72,000m2 plot of land in The Hague. The final design for the new premises will be presented in 2010, after which construction can start in 2011. Work on the new building for the International Criminal Court is scheduled for completion in 2014.

         

Press release