ICC President tells World Parliamentary Conference “ICC brings retributive and restorative justice together with the prevention of future crimes”
On 10 December 2012, the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Judge Sang-Hyun Song, addressed the Opening Session of the 7th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law & World Parliamentary Conference on Human Rights in Rome, convened by Parliamentarians for Global Action and hosted by the Parliament of Italy.
President Song acknowledged in his remarks the significant contribution of all those who had worked hard on the ratification of the Rome Statute in their respective parliaments and stressed that “ICC is about much more than just punishing the perpetrators. The Rome Statute and the ICC bring retributive and restorative justice together with the prevention of future crimes”.
President Song encouraged parliamentarians from States not party to the Statute to think of ways to protect the people they represent from the worst violations of fundamental human rights, which would include joining the ICC. “Unless your government has previously made a declaration accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction, the legal protection of the Rome Statute only starts from the date your country becomes a State Party. That is good reason to join sooner rather than later”, President Song said.
ICC Prosecutor, Ms Fatou Bensouda, and ICC Registrar, Ms Silvana Arbia, as well as the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, Ambassador Tiina Intelmann, are also participating in the two-day Conference.
The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected].
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