Following its consideration of the issue of complementarity as part of the Stocktaking of international criminal justice, the Review Conference adopted resolution RC/1, “Complementarity”, by which it, inter alia, reaffirmed that the effective prosecution of the most serious crimes must be ensured by taking measures at the national level and by enhancing international cooperation; recognized the primary responsibility of States to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes of international concern; recognized the need for additional measures at the national level as required and for the enhancement of international assistance to effectively prosecute perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community; and encouraged the Court, States Parties and other stakeholders, including international organizations and civil society, to further explore ways in which to enhance the capacity of national jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute serious crimes of international concern.
This recognition of the importance of enhancing the national capacity of States to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes in order to fulfill their legal obligations in relation to complementarity under the Statute, has led the Assembly to a more focused consideration of the topic. In particular, the role which States, the Court, and other stakeholders, including international and regional organizations and civil society, can play in enhancing the capacity of States to investigate and prosecute these crimes is of crucial importance. To this end, the Review Conference, by resolution RC/1, and confirmed by the Assembly in resolution ICC-ASP/9/Res.3, conferred the following mandate on the Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties:
“Requests the Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties, in accordance with resolution ICC-ASP/2/Res.3, and, within existing resources, to facilitate the exchange of information between the Court, States Parties and other stakeholders, including international organizations and civil society, aimed at strengthening domestic jurisdictions, and requests the Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties to report to the tenth session of the Assembly on progress in this regard”.
The Hague Working Group of the Bureau has been considering this issue under the guidance of the facilitators, Ms. Yolande Dwarika (South Africa) and Mr. Christian Nygård Nissen (Denmark) and has made good progress.
In order to discharge its mandate, the Secretariat has, as a first step, established a complementarity Extranet, which will be operational in the coming weeks. It will provide an information base on events relating to complementarity, identify the main actors and their activities, and facilitate contacts between donor States, organizations, civil society and recipient States, in order to advance the goal of strengthening national capacity, as appropriate. Designated actors would have the ability to post relevant information on the Extranet in order to share information.
The Secretariat is also consulting with actors engaged in complementarity activities with a view to having a first-hand view of these activities in order to better discharge its mandate of facilitating the exchange of information.
The designated focal point of the Secretariat for complementarity is Ms. Gaile A. Ramoutar, Legal Officer, who may be contacted at:
[email protected].
Persons in New York wishing to make contact may do so via Mr. René Holbach, Assistant to the President, at:
[email protected].
Interested stakeholders are invited to convey their contact information to the above-mentioned addresses.