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The Hague
The President of the Assembly of States Parties (“the Assembly”), Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, visited The Hague from 14 to 17 February 2011. He met in an informal meeting with sixteen of the judges of the Court for an open and informal exchange of views on the Assembly’s Study Group on Governance, aspects of the work of the Court with relevance to its budget, including the budget cycle, possibilities to expedite judicial proceedings; and the permanent premises of the Court.
He also held a retreat, with the participation of the Vice-President of the Assembly and Chair of The Hague Working Group, Ambassador Jorge Lomónaco, the Chair of the Study Group on Governance, Ambassador Pieter de Savornin Lohman, as well as the President of the Court, the Prosecutor, the Registrar and the Director of the Secretariat of the Assembly, for an informal exchange on matters of mutual interest to States Parties and the Court, in particular in the framework of the said Study Group. In addition, he held meetings with senior officials of the Court, members of the diplomatic community and the African Union Legal Counsel, Mr. Ben Kioko. He also briefed The Hague based ICC Group of Friends on his January visit to the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa and to Kenya, as well as on the work of the Search Committee of the Bureau of the Assembly to facilitate the appointment of the next Prosecutor of the Court and on other relevant aspects of the work of the Assembly.
Furthermore, he spoke at the seminar on The Implications of the 2010 ICC Review Conference, organized by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies and Leiden University, on the topic “Challenges before the Assembly of States Parties”.