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Recommendations in Summary

In their statements during the general debate at the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court, states parties should:

Confirm that justice is a necessary component of lasting peace and an important objective in its own right;

Affirm the importance of maintaining the International Criminal Court’s independence from political interference;

Convey commitment to ending impunity for the most serious international crimes, including those that are ongoing in Darfur;

Underscore their shared commitment to international justice;

• Underscore the need for states to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, particularly with regard to arrests;

• Make particular mention of the urgent importance of international and regional action toward execution of the International Criminal Court arrest warrants for the LRA; and

• Explicitly reference the importance of the “One Court” principle.

With regard to the omnibus resolution, the Assembly of States Parties should:

• Invite the court to include relevant public information aspects of its strategy for Africa in its “Integrated Strategy for External Relations, Public Information, and Outreach;”

• Provide a mandate for a facilitator from the New York Working Group on the court’s strategy for Africa to facilitate discussion and future plans. Appointment of a facilitator from the New York Working Group will ensure the fullest possible consultation among African states parties in light of the greater representation of those countries in New York;
• Acknowledge the creation of the position of cooperation adviser in charge of arrests within the Office of the Prosecutor, welcome the Office of the Prosecutor’s initiative in this regard, and pledge the full support and cooperation of states parties with the cooperation adviser in charge of arrests;

• Support strengthening existing language on the “One Court” principle to give the principle more prominence;

• Include language underscoring the importance to the court’s success of the election of only the most highly qualified judges in January 2009;

• Express support for the work of The Hague Working Group facilitator on legal aid and encourage continued discussion of legal aid-related issues, including legal aid for victims’ legal representatives; and

• Invite the Public Information Dissemination Section to prepare an updated “Strategic Plan for Outreach of the International Criminal Court” for presentation to the eighth session of the Assembly of States Parties.

With regard to the budget resolution, the Assembly of States Parties should:

• Include language underscoring the importance of effective and efficient legal representation for the defense during proceedings before the International Criminal Court;

• Support the addition of a P-4 Legal Adviser/Counsel for the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, and indicate a willingness to consider funding this P-4 position on a permanent basis;

• Request the Registry to fund the audio-visual producer position requested by the Public Information Dissemination Section through redeployment of non-field resources available to the section, through temporary redeployment of the section’s resources for field-based positions while those positives are under recruitment, or by reallocating other Registry resources to the Public Information Dissemination Section for this purpose, subject to informing the Committee on Budget and Finance and the Assembly of States Parties of such reallocations;

• Urge the Public Information Dissemination Section to immediately recruit for the posts yet to be filled that are critical to the effective implementation of the court’s outreach strategy, in particular, the field positions; and

• Approve a policy of funding of family visits for indigent pre-trial detainees at the International Criminal Court, as well as the corresponding resources required in the court’s regular budget.

We encourage states parties’ delegates to

• Attend the discussions on cooperation and article 16 and on outreach, organized as side meetings during this session of the Assembly of States Parties.