The Fifth session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) takes place from 23 November to 1 December 2006 in The Hague, the Netherlands. As part of the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), UNPO and will take part in the upcoming session. The ICC is an institution which has made unprecedented attempts to make its justice mechanisms widely accessible, including offering a substantial participatory role to the victims of the crimes it investigates. The issues discussed at this crucial departure point for the Court are therefore of substantial interest to UNPO Members.

The ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court, trying the most serious crimes of international concern—genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.  In light of the possibility of the Court’s first trail against Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of Congo starting next year, this year’s ASP will be particularly vital towards the Court fulfilling its mandate. Mr. Lubanga Dyilo will potentially face charges relating to conscripting, enlisting, and engaging children under the age of 15 in hostilities.

The ASP, established by Article 112 of the Rome Statute to supervise and observe the work of the ICC, has a broad-ranging mandate, including overseeing the ICC’s administration, voting on necessary texts to facilitate the functioning of the ICC, deciding on the Court’s budget, electing the ICC’s Judges and Prosecutors, and creating necessary bodies to guarantee the successful functioning of the ICC. It is composed of a Bureau, consisting of a President, two Vice-Presidents, and 18 member states elected by the ASP from the State Parties every three years. Each State Party has one representative, and Observer States may also be represented. States which are not Parties to the Statute may be invited by the President, but must be approved by the ASP. Currently, the H.E. Mr. Bruno Stagno Ugarte of Costa Rica is President of the ASP, elected at its 4th session in January 2006. He will serve until 2008.

On the ASP’s agenda during its 5th session is reviewing the reports of the Bureau of the Assembly and the Bureau’s Working Groups, and approving both the ICC’s budget for 2007 and the Headquarters Agreement between the ICC and the Netherlands. The Working Groups’ reports have dealt with strategies for increasing ratifications of the Rome Statute, presently at 102, the implementation of the Rome Statute, and improving the general participation from States in the ASP.

Additionally, the Working Groups will present reports on the Court’s recently-announced strategic plan in which the Court outlines its proposed activities for the next ten years. Reports will be presented also on matters of accountability, equalizing the gender balance and geographical representation of the ICC staff, and the status of the ICC’s interim and permanent premises, as the Court’s permanent premises will likely not be ready at the expiration of the rent-free period at the present interim premises. The ASP will also hear the report of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims, and elect the second round of five members to the Board. The Trust Fund for Victims is an ICC innovation that is independently supervised and charged with providing aid to victims. The Report of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression will also be presented, a crime included in the Rome Statute as under the ICC’s jurisdiction, though not yet properly defined. Perhaps most significantly however, the ASP will vote on approval of the Court’s proposed 2007 budget of 93.46 million Euros, an increase of 13 million Euros from 2006.

During the entirety of the 5th session, 200 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) organized by the CICC, composed of over 2000 non-governmental organizations around the world, will receive official documents, distribute publications of their own to country delegations, and may even make oral statements at the ASP. Outside official sessions these NGOs will informally and formally meet with country delegations on issues relevant to the ASP’s agenda; providing research, expertise, and recommendations to the delegations. The interaction between the ICC, member states, and NGOs, through the ASP, has been one of the most unique features of the progressive institution thus far.

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