The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (“the Assembly”) held its nineteenth session from 14 to 16 December 2020 at the World Forum Convention Center in The Hague. The session was attended by States Parties, Observer States, invited States, international and regional organizations and representatives of civil society.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, measures were implemented to diminish the risk to participants of exposure to the virus. Additional measures were taken to allow for virtual participation during the session.
The session was chaired by the President of the Assembly, H.E. Mr. O-Gon Kwon. The Assembly held its General debate, which was enriched by a keynote speech by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, H.E. Mr. Stef Blok. A statement was also delivered on behalf of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, H.E. Mr Félix Tshisekedi. A number of online side events, including many organized by civil society, were also held during the session.
The Assembly adopted six resolutions by consensus on the proposed programme budget for 2021, cooperation, the remuneration of judges, the procedure for adoption of decisions by the Assembly during the nineteenth session, a possible second resumption of the nineteenth session of the Assembly and the term of the current Bureau, and strengthening the International Criminal Court and the Assembly of States Parties. The Assembly also adopted the 2021 programme budget of the Court totalling €148,259,000 and a staffing level of 972.
The work of the Assembly continued at its resumed nineteenth session, in New York from 18 to 23 December 2020, where it adopted the resolution on the review of the International Criminal Court and the Rome Statute system.
The Assembly elected Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi (Argentina) as President for the twentieth to twenty-second sessions. The Assembly elected further, for the same period, the following other members of the Bureau: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Liechtenstein, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, the State of Palestine, Uganda and United Kingdom. The Assembly deferred the election of the two Vice-Presidents.
The Assembly also elected six members of the Committee on Budget and Finance: Mr. Werner Druml (Austria), Ms. Yukiko Harimoto (Japan), Mr. Fawzi Gharaibeh (Jordan), Ms. Mónica Sánchez Izquierdo (Ecuador), Ms. Margaret Wambui Ngugi Shava (Kenya), and Ms. Elena Sopková (Slovakia).
The Assembly elected further six judges for a term of nine years: Ms. Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor (Trinidad and Tobago), Ms. María del Socorro Flores Liera (Mexico), Ms. Joanna Korner (United Kingdom), Mr. Gocha Lordkipanidze (Georgia), Ms. Miatta Maria Samba (Sierra Leone), and Mr. Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez (Costa Rica).
The work of the Assembly will continue at its second resumed nineteenth session, to be held in New York in early 2021, to consider agenda item 14, “Election of the Prosecutor”.
