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On Thursday, 20 January 2011, Judge Sang-Hyun Song, President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) met with H.E. Snežana Malović, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, to sign an agreement on the enforcement of sentences, at the seat of the Court in The Hague.
“Having sufficient options in place to ensure the enforcement of judicially ordered sentences is an important element in the overall credibility of the judicial process at the ICC”, President Song remarked. “This is a historic moment as Serbia is the first Eastern European State to conclude an agreement on the enforcement of sentences with the ICC. I hope this will encourage other states in the region to follow your lead”, he said.
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| H.E. Snežana Malović, Minister of Justice of Serbia, and ICC President Sang-Hyun Song at the seat of the Court in The Hague © ICC-CPI |
Minister Malović stated that “the ICC is one of the most important building blocks in fighting impunity and promoting accountability”. She added that the “signing of this agreement will reinforce our commitment to the values and objectives that we share”.
The Rome Statute, founding treaty of the ICC, provides that sentences handed down by Judges “shall be served in a State designated by the Court from a list of States which have indicated to the Court their willingness to accept sentenced persons”. In addition to the agreement with Serbia, the ICC has signed five such agreements with the governments of Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark and Finland.
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.
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