Opening Statements

Opening Session

On 4 December, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) President Sidiki Kaba of Senegal opened the 16th ASP session. In his last opening address to the ICC member states and other stakeholders in the Rome Statute system, including civil society in attendence, the ASP President painted a broad picture of discussions in the two weeks ahead: around financial support to make ICC investigations; reiterating the role of the ICC as a Court-of-last-resort (complementarity); calling on states to act wisely and to activate the Court's exercise of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression; and noting that crimes continue around the world at an alarming rate, with international security at stake. In his address to the 16th ASP session, which precedes the year of the Rome Statute's 20th anniversary, President Kaba commended the Coalition for the ICC and its Convenor for work since 1995 to make the ICC happen in the first place.

UN Secretary-General

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres followed the ASP President by pointing out the UN's shared goals with the ICC and Rome Statute, and in particular the importance of international justice as an essential tool in its own right to achieve peace, security and human rights worldwide. The Secretary-General specifically issued an appeal for states to achieve universal ratification of the Rome Statute, highlighted the role of civil society in the Rome Statute system, and reminded participants of the challenging and complicated nature of the ICC's mandates in approaching discussions around the future of this unique institution on the world stage.

ICC President

The ICC President, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, reflected on some of the achievements of the judges under her presidency. The ICC President's remarks touched on, among others, the "One-Court" principle developments under her term toward the most effective implementation possible of the Court's various mandates. Judge Fernández also noted the establishment of the Independent Oversight Mechanism to improve accountability and transparency of the Court's organs.

ICC Prosecutor

In her opening address to the 16th ASP session, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda reflected on some of the biggest achievements in the work of the Office of the Prosecutor since 2016, from the issuing of two new arrest warrants, to convictions, to the opening of the OTP investigation in Burundi prior to the government's withdrawal from the Rome Statute. The Prosecutor also laid out the critical decisions before the ICC member states this year that will have potential to shape the direction of the Court both strategically and administratively: the election of judges; the election of new ASP expert budget committee members; and the decision on a new ASP President and Vice-Presidents, to name a few. The Prosecutor noted that the OTP has an interest in all these decisions, but that her office will be most affected by states' decisions on the ICC budget as well as their exchanges on cooperation.

The Prosecutor highlighted that the ICC is a firmly rooted but still evolving institution, and incomparable in its potential with respect to addressing grave crimes. She thus called on all stakeholders to stay with the ICC on this forward path to foster a culture of accountability and protection under international criminal law.

Chairperson of the Board of Director of the Trust Fund For Victims

Mr. Motoo Nguchi of Japan, the Chairman of the ICC Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), highlighted the work of TFV Board of Directors in 2017, as well as the activities of the TFV Secretariat. Specifically, the Chairman broadly described the TFV's planned comprehensive assistance throughout Côte d'Ivoire; plans and missions to Georgia to develop assistance in that situation; and high-level visits by the Court and TFV board to situation countries to better understand the impact of ICC processes on affected communities. With hundreds of victims waiting for assistance from the TFV, and due to findings of indigence in all of the ICC convictions thus far, the Chairman noted that the TFV has agreed to complement Court-ordered reparations in several cases. He reminded, however, that with the Jean-Pierre Bemba case expected to enter the reparations stage next year with its over 5000 participating victims, it will be more important than ever to bolster ICC member states' voluntary contributions to the TFV in 2018.