ICC Judges amend the Regulations of the Court and update Chambers Practice Manual
The judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) adopted an amendment to the Regulations of the Court, which enters into force today, adding a new regulation 53 bis. Associated with this new regulation, they decided to further amend the "Chambers Practice Manual" of the ICC judges, which was issued in its sixth edition today, in both English and French.
Regulation 53 bis concerns the transmission of the record of the proceedings following committal. Implementing recommendation 199 of the Report of the Independent Expert Review conducted in 2020, the amendment is aimed at improving efficiency by facilitating prompter transmission of the record of the proceedings from the Pre-Trial Chamber to the Presidency, and onward to the Trial Chamber, as composed. Regulation 53 bis also specifies that pending the Trial Chamber’s constitution, documents may continue to be filed before the Pre-Trial Chamber. In addition, a clarification has been added to the "Chambers Practice Manual" that the transmission of the record of the proceedings is without prejudice to the Pre-Trial Chamber's exercise of any functions that remain within its competence.
The amendment is the result of discussions held at the judicial retreat of the judges on 19 and 20 November 2021, where the judges agreed to add a new section to the "Chambers Practice Manual" on the transmission of the record of the proceedings and to consider an amendment to the Regulations of the Court. Prior to its approval by the plenary of judges, the amendment proposal was placed before the Court's Advisory Committee on Legal Texts, which consists of three judges (one from each Division), one representative from the Office of the Prosecutor, one representative from the Registry and one representative of counsel included in the Court's list of counsel.
The amendment to the Regulations of the Court will be circulated to States Parties for comments. Pursuant to article 52(3) of the Rome Statute, if within six months from circulation, there are no objections from a majority of States Parties, the amendments shall remain in force.
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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