International Criminal Court President Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi addressing the United Nations General Assembly on 5 November 2015 © ICC-CPI.
ICC President addresses United Nations General Assembly, calls for continued cooperation and support.
On 5 November 2015, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi addressed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly for the first time in her capacity as President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and delivered the Court’s 11th annual report to the UN.
President Fernández reminded the Assembly that the strength of the ICC in delivering justice for mass crimes depends on the cooperation of States and international organisations: “Today, there is a widespread expectation that atrocious crimes cannot go unpunished, and the Court has a central role in upholding this expectation of the international community and the hope of victims all over the world. […]
The Court must fulfil its mandate, but it is clear that it cannot meet these expectations alone. We rely heavily on the cooperation of States and organisations at every step of the process, from investigation to arrests and from witness protection to the enforcement of sentences.”
Emphasizing the important and successful partnership between the ICC and the United Nations, the President expressed the Court’s gratitude for the support received, ranging from logistical assistance in the field to administrative and personnel arrangements as well as judicial assistance. “I would like to emphasize the importance that the cooperation of the United Nations, as well as the cooperation of its agencies, funds and programmes, has for the activities of the Court. »
The President however highlighted persisting challenges. “One of these [challenges] is the continuing lack of full cooperation in relation to the two situations that the Security Council referred to the ICC Prosecutor – Darfur and Libya. […] For the Court to be able to discharge effectively its mandate, full compliance with the relevant Security Council resolutions is required. The Court alone is not in a position to obtain that compliance – so we look to the Council for active support in this regard.”
President Fernández detailed the several milestones reached by the ICC in the past year, including the issuance of the Court’s first two final appeals judgments on the merits as well as the first appeals judgments on sentencing and reparations, the opening of two new trials, the transfer of two new suspects to the ICC custody – Dominic Ongwen and Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi – and the opening of a ninth investigation into the Central African Republic.
“Together with one existing trial, this means that next year we already expect to have up to four trials running involving a total of 10 accused persons – the Court’s busiest year so far in terms of trial proceedings,” President Fernández said. In addition, the Prosecutor recently requested authorisation to open an investigation into the situation in Georgia which is currently before a Pre-Trial Chamber to consider whether or not there are reasonable grounds to proceed with an investigation.
The President also highlighted the Court’s focus on victims, including the assistance provided by the Trust Fund for Victims. She thanked States that have provided donations to the Fund and encouraged contributions from those that have not done so, in the interests of the victims and their affected communities.
ICC President Speech at the United Nations General Assembly – 5 November 2015
