By Silvia A. Fernández de Gurmendi, ICC President.   As the new President of the International Criminal Court I have been entrusted with the great responsibility of overseeing the proper administration of the Court and thereby helping to ensure fair and impartial justice in situations where atrocious crimes have occurred and there is no other recourse to justice. The ICC hears cases regarding war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Its goal is to bring to justice those responsible for these crimes, and to help prevent such crimes from occurring again. Its mandate is clear, and the Court is determined to meet these goals. Yet it will not be easy, will not happen overnight, and most importantly, will not be possible without global cooperation and support. As a judicial institution, the International Criminal Court is a distinct kind of international organisation, since independence from external influence is essential to its identity and achievement of its goals. Without independence, its raison d´être is compromised. The Court and the international community share the responsibility of upholding at all times the independence of the Court, which is vital for its credibility and legitimacy At the same time, as the ICC’s first President Judge Kirsch once said, the Court is both independent and interdependent. States and organisations have a crucial role in allowing the Court to fulfil its core mandate. Non-cooperation or lack of timely cooperation significantly affects the Court’s ability to collect evidence, protect witnesses or arrest its suspects in the situations and cases that are brought before it. Likewise, without cooperation, the Court cannot provide adequate reparations to victims and ensure awareness and understanding of its work by affected communities and society at large. In other words, without cooperation, the Court can neither be efficient nor effective. However, cooperation may not be forthcoming or may diminish if potential supporters lose confidence in the ability of the Court to deliver high quality justice. Both aspects – cooperation and performance – are interrelated. With respect to its performance, the proceedings of the Court are perceived as too lengthy, and not as efficient or effective as they should be. This perception must be addressed, as it poses a potential risk to our ability to gain and maintain support and cooperation. This in turn would jeopardize the ability of the Court to enhance the quality of its operations. While many delays and difficulties may derive from factors beyond the Court’s control, the Court needs to identify and address the problems that are indeed within its powers to resolve. There is, for this reason, a compelling need for the Court to undertake wide-ranging reforms to improve its operations. Important initiatives are already underway within each of the Court’s organs. The Prosecutor is implementing a new Strategic Plan adopted two years ago. The Registrar has launched a project to restructure and streamline the Registry. The Judges have embarked on a “lessons learnt” process to take stock of the Court’s judicial practice and to propose amendments to its legal texts, if needed. The legal system of the Court is based on a combination of elements derived from different legal systems and traditions; thus, any amendments to its provisions should take into account the need to preserve its hybrid character. One fundamental aspect is the unprecedented role granted to victims of the crimes who may participate in the proceedings to express their views and concerns and seek reparations for the damage suffered. The interpretation of this unique and innovative system has raised considerable legal and management challenges, and the various ICC chambers have given different responses to problems that were raised during the first years of the Court’s existence. Twelve years down the road, it is now urgent to assess results and seek to identify best practices and harmonize solutions. In light of our past experience, I believe that, rather than piecemeal revision of individual provisions of the legal texts, it is necessary to address the proceedings in a holistic manner, with a view to diagnosing practical problems and proposing comprehensive remedies. As part of a court-wide effort to improve its operations, inter-organ discussions have also started to develop performance indicators that may serve to assess and improve the operations of the Court. It is important to develop a coherent, court-wide vision of how best to ensure high quality of justice at the ICC. This is not a simple task as there are inherent difficulties in evaluating the performance of a court, in particular an international criminal court. While acknowledging these and other difficulties, we must all recognize that the challenges the Court and the international community currently face have multiplied and their nature has changed. Not too long ago, the international community wondered whether the creation of Court was at all possible and, after its inception, whether it would ever become relevant. The Court has indeed become relevant as the concept of accountability for international crimes and the importance of a justice component in the settling of conflicts are now recognised. The role of the Court in ensuring this accountability is also increasingly recognised. The central question today is whether the Court is sustainable and whether its relevance will be maintained and continue to grow in the years ahead. As said, the sustainability of the Court will require the combined efforts both of the institution itself and of the global community since both aspects – performance and cooperation are intertwined. As the new ICC President, my priority is to contribute to the Court’s sustainability by seeking to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its performance. I trust that broad support and cooperation with its activities will be forthcoming. I also hope that States and organisations will deploy all necessary efforts to enhance the universality of the Court. While a significant number of States have now joined the ICC, the Court has not yet achieved universal participation, which is essential for the effective exercise of its global mandate. Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi took office as the President of the International Criminal Court on 11 March 2015.  

By Mr. Jozias van Aartsen, Mayor of The Hague.   This year it will be seventy years ago that the Second World War came to an end and The Hague was liberated by the Canadians. That war with the battle for the royal seat in May 1940 and the five years that followed, were undoubtedly the most dramatic period in the history of The Hague. A period in which more than 15,000 people living in The Hague lost their lives. Most, about 12,000 of them, Jewish residents. The war caused huge material damage too, the traces of which can still be seen today. This article is an edited version of the speech given by Mayor Jozias van Aartsen on 1 March this year at the commemoration of the tragic bombing of the Bezuidenhout district of The Hague. The ceremony took place in the Christus Triomfatorkerk (Risen Christ Church) in the presence of British and other diplomats. Among those leading the oecumenical service was the Reverend Canon Dr David Stone of Coventry Cathedral, the church destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1940 and which, in 1995, donated a Cross of Nails to the churches of the Bezuidenhout. “The day before yesterday there was war and yesterday too and there is still war in my time time that is not just mine” Lines from a poem by Remco Campert, who was born and raised in The Hague. His father Jan Campert perished in the Neuengamme concentration camp. The actor, Bram van der Vlugt, who also grew up in this city, quoted this poem in a radio interview he gave a few years ago. During the programme he talked about the dramatic events experienced by his family during the Second World War. It was a distressing story which in many ways reflected the war years of The Hague. Bram van der Vlugt’s mother was Jewish and was murdered, along with her own mother and other family members. When the occupying forces cleared Scheveningen the Van der Vlugt family ended up in the Bezuidenhout. Along with many other families from Scheveningen and other areas of the city which had been cleared or even torn down. There in the Bezuidenhout, the young Bram then witnessed the terrifying bombing. It was on 3rd March exactly seventy years ago that a large part of the beautiful Hague district of the Bezuidenhout, with its typical architecture and street patterns, was accidentally bombed by the Royal Air Force in an attempt to disable the destructive V2 rockets which the German occupying forces were firing from this area at Britain, causing death and destruction there. Owing to a compounding of errors the bombs landed instead on a densely populated residential area. More than 500 people lost their lives that day and in the days that followed. With another 400 missing, many of whom were never found. The bombing of the Bezuidenhout, together with the German air raid on Rotterdam and the allied bombing of Nijmegen – also a tragic mistake – were among the worst and most deadly air raids that the Netherlands suffered during the Second World War. On that day 3300 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, along with 290 businesses, 64 offices, 5 churches, 15 schools and 8 hospitals. The bombing made 12,000 people homeless, many of them losing everything they had. The survivors took flight. As they did so they saw the most horrific sights, witnessing scenes of inferno. Someone recently said: “Every time I see a group of refugees on television today, I am again reminded of how I too had to flee on 3 March 1945.” “The day before yesterday there was war and yesterday too and there is still war in my time time that is not just mine” For countless survivors the war never completely ended, however many years have passed since. The wounds inflicted on that terrible Saturday were simply too deep. The sorrow too great. On top of this, in the decades after the war little thought was given to the bombing. This was most certainly because it was an attack by our allies. Besides which, these were the years of reconstruction. Years of looking forward, not back. More recently, however, the bombing has gained more notice rather than less, which is a good thing. Now as the group of people who experienced it first-hand is becoming smaller, the stories need to be handed down to the present generation and to future generations. And that is certainly happening. Books have been published and documentaries made in which the survivors tell their stories. There is a package for primary schools and recently an historic walk through the Bezuidenhout was organised. Photos with explanatory captions placed around the neighbourhood show just how much the appearance of the area was changed by the bombing. History can be found literally on the streets there. You soon feel a sense of unease looking at pictures of the bombed Bezuidenhout: that was the day before yesterday, in 1945. But it is still going on today. In the cities of Syria that have been reduced to rubble, in the East Ukraine, and elsewhere in the world. It makes us realize all the more how fortunate we are to be able to live here in peace. And that we must continue to do everything in our power to banish such suffering from the world. Or, to put it in the words of that great philosopher Baruch Spinoza, who spent his final years in The Hague, and whose fundamental ideas about peace and freedom have lost none of their power and relevance more than three centuries later. “Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.” A virtue which we in The Hague, the international city of peace and justice, will continue to strive for and promulgate.