Day 6 of the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties (ASP) focused on various aspects of state cooperation.

The main event of the day was a plenary meeting on cooperation. The first part of the plenary focused on the tracking, freezing and recovery of financial assets, a topic the ASP has identified as a priority focus. This topic was not new to the ASP: in October, France and Senegal (as facilitators of the Working Group on cooperation between the International Criminal Court and States Parties) co-sponsored a meeting in Paris on asset recovery. That meeting resulted in a set of non-binding recommendations and actions for both States Parties and the ICC on asset recovery, which are now under consideration at the ASP. The plenary itself considered ways in which state capacity can be increased in the conduct of asset investigations.

The second part of the plenary was forward-looking, focused on the future of state cooperation with the ICC. It was during this session that nongovernmental organizations presented a joint statement. This statement was delivered by Stella Ndirangu of Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice on behalf of 11 organizations, and included this plea: “When states do not cooperate with the Court, victims are denied justice. Women, men and children who look to the Court for justice are denied that opportunity. We regret, therefore, the Assembly’s limited attention to addressing non-cooperation.”

Day 6 contained a very full schedule of side-events. Geneviève Geneau contributes a blog post today on one of those side-events, on the topic of the ICC’s investigations in Mali.

Geneviève is a PhD student in international criminal law at the University of Ottawa (Canada), under the supervision of Professor Muriel Paradelle. Her research subject concerns critical analysis of the concept of gender justice with regard to sexual violence committed in furtherance of the crime of genocide. Her research interests are primarily sexual and gender-based violence in international criminal law and feminist legal theories. As part of her doctoral studies, she has held a position of lecturer in legal drafting at the Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, University of Ottawa. She is also involved as a research professional with the Research Chair in law on food security and diversity at Laval University (Canada). She has been a lawyer and a member of the Quebec Bar since 2013.

 Heartfelt welcome, Geneviève, to the IntLawGrrls ICC ASP Symposium!