• Report of the Second Session of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court (PCNICC/1999/L.4/Rev.1) (English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese)

Chairperson: Mr. Philippe Kirsch (Canada)

Vice-Chairpersons: Mr. George Winston Mckenzie (Trinidad and Tobago), Mr. Medard Rwelamira (South Africa), and Mr. Muhammed Sacirbey (Bosnia and Hercegovina)

Rapporteur: Mr. Salah Suheimat (Jordan)

At its second session, the Preparatory Commission proceeded with its work on the basis of its agenda adopted on 16 February 1999.

Taking account of the priorities set forth by resolution F of the Conference, the Preparatory Commission agreed on a work plan, which, as in the first session, focused on two instruments necessary for the functioning of the Court:

the Rules of Procedure and Evidence; and

the Elements of Crimes.

Rules of Procedure and Evidence

With respect to the rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Preparatory Commission concentrated on rules pertaining to the following parts of the Rome Statute of the International criminal Court: Part 4 {Composition and Administration of the Court); Part 5 (Investigation and Prosecution); part 6 (The Trial); and part 8 (Appeal and Revision). 4.    The Working Group on Rules of Procedure and Evidence made considerable progress on Parts 5, 6 and 8 of the Statute, even though it was unable to conclude its consideration of the latter Part.

The Working Group held 12 meetings, from 26 July to 6 August 1999.  It had before it several proposals, in addition to those which had been made at the first session of the Preparatory Commissioon and which are listed in the Summary of the proceedings of that session.  The proposals submitted at the second session are contained in documents:

PCNICC/1999/DP.7/Add.1/Rev.1;
PCNICC/1999/DP.8/Add.1/Rev.1;
PCNICC/1999/DP.8/Add.2/Rev.1;
PCNICC/1999/WGRPE/DP.5 - 38; and
PCNICC/1999/WGRPE/INF.2 and Add.1.

The Working Group considered proposals related to parts 6 and 8 of the Statute.  Numerous informal consultations were also held on rules related to the afore-mentioned Parts of the Statute, as well as to Part 5, which the Preparatory Commission had begun to consider during its first session.

Taking account of the views expressed in the Working Group and in informal consultations, the Coordinator proposed the following discussion papers for consideration at the next session of the Preparatory Commission (see document PCNICC/1999/L.4/Rev.1)

- PCNICC/WGRPE/RT.5/Rev.1, Add. 1 and Corr.1, and Add. 2 and 3 on rules related to part 6 of the Statute.
- PCNICC/WGRPE/RT.6 on rules related to part 5 of the Statute; and
- PCNICC/WGRPE/RT.7 on rules related to part 8 of the Statute.

With regard to the Elements of Crimes, the Preparatory Commission concentrated on the elements of war crimes.

The Working Group on the Elements of Crimes held ten meetings, from 26 July to 12 August 1999.  It had before it several proposals in addition to those which had been proposed at the first session of the Preparatory Commission and which are listed in the Summary of proceedings of that session.  The proposals submitted at the second session are contained in documents PCNICC/1999/WGEC/DP.8 to DP.27; and PCNICC/1999/WGEC/INF.2 and Add.1-2.

The Working Group resumed consideration of the elements of War crimes, article 8 of the Statute, that it had already began to consider at the first session, but could not complete.  To facilitate discussion, the remaining War Crimes provisions were divided into 9 clusters based on the possible commonality of their elements, as follows:

I. "Humanitarian"/ "human rights" provisions

- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.4 on elements of article 8(2)(a);
- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.5/Rev.1 on elements of article 8(2)(c);
- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.6 on elements of article 8(2)(b)(xxii);
- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.7 on elements of article 8(2)(b)(xiii)-(xvi) and (xxvi);
- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.8 on elements of article 8(2)(b)(x) and (xxi);
- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.9 on elements of article 8(2)(b)(i)-(iii); and
- PCNICC/1999/WGEC/RT.10 on elements of article 8(2)(b)(vi), (vii), (xi) and (xii).

While the Working Group had a general discussion on the elements of all the crimes contained in article 8, there was not sufficient time for the Coordinator to prepare discussion papers on the elements of all the provisions of War crimes.

While substantial progress was made during the session of the Working Group on article 8, further consideration of this article will be undertaken at the next session of the Working Group to ensure the formulation of generally acceptable elements of crimes on article 8, as part of a complete set of elements of crimes for all crimes, laid down in the Statute.

Crime of Aggression

The Commission also undertook a number of informal consultations with respect to the crime of aggression.

At its 7th meeting, on 9 August 1999, the Preparatory Commission agreed on the following arrangements concerning the question of the crime of aggression: -

"(a) A working group on the crime of aggression will be established at the outset of the next session of the Preparatory Commission;

(b) At the next and the following sessions of the Preparatory Commission, the plenary traditionally held each Monday morning will be maintained, but will be significantly shorter, essentially limited to brief reports by the coordinators;

(c) A meeting of the working group on the crime of aggression will follow each of the Monday morning plenary meetings, until the end of the morning;

(d) Informal consultations on the crime of aggression will be conducted at other times where possible and appropriate, it being understood that this should be without prejudice to the requirements of the work on subjects which must be completed by 30 June 2000. Within the limits of what is practicable, the Secretariat will endeavour to provide the best possible facilities for those informal consultations;

(e) The above arrangements are based on a clear and general understanding that they will remain unchanged until 30 June 2000, and that no additional requests concerning organization of the work with respect to the crime of aggression will be made before that date. "
 

• At its 5th meeting, on 30 July 1999, the Preparatory Commission was addressed by Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, President of the International Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia.
• The Preparatory Commission took note of the Intergovernmental Regional Caribbean Conference for the signature and ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court hosted by the Ministry of the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago and the No Peace Without Justice Foundation, in Port-of-Spain from 15 to 17 March 1999, as well as the Port-of-Spain Declaration resulting therefrom; the international seminar on victims' access to the International Criminal Court hosted by the Government of France in Paris from 27 to 29 April 1999; the informal inter-sessional meeting hosted by the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Siracusa, Italy from 21 to 27 June 1999; and the two briefing sessions on ratification and implementation legislation of the Rome Stature, hosted by the International Human Rights Law Institute of DePaul University and Parliamentarians for Global Action on 31 July and 7 August 1999 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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  last updated on 31 August 1999