Yesterday, the fourth day of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties, was focused on consulations on the annual ‘omnibus’ resolution, which is titled “Strengthening the International Criminal Court and the Assembly of States Parties”. This resolution is usually quite lengthy, as the 2017 resolution shows – and covers a wide range of issues. It addresses the goal of universal ratification of the Rome Statute, and invites states not yet parties to the Rome Statute to ratify. It also reiterates the obligations of States Parties under the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the ICC. It calls upon States Parties to cooperate – legally, politically and diplomatically – with the Court, including on arresting individuals for whom a warrant of arrest has been issued. Other issues it tends to cover are: the relationship of the ICC with the United Nations and other international organizations, the relationship with the Netherlands as host state, the activities of the Court (such as the Prosecutor’s implementation of her office’s Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes), upcoming elections, working methods, issues related to victims, staff recruitment, complementarity, the Independent Oversight Mechanism, the budget, amendments and participation in the Assembly. Negotiations on this resolution will continue on Monday, December 10th.

A number of side-events also took place on the fourth day of the Assembly, including sessions on the prosecution of war crimes in Iraqi Kurdistan, the situation in Georgia, the role of Latin America and the Caribbean in the adoption of the Rome Statute, transitional justice in Mexico, and the link between the ICC and environmental law.

With this post, I introduce Sarah Nimigan, who is blogging for IntLawGrrls today. She is currently at the Assembly as a delegate of the Canadian Partership for International Justice. Sarah is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario (Canada) with specialization in Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. Her dissertation addresses the problems facing the International Criminal Court through the African experience. More specifically, her research traces the active role taken by various African delegations in negotiating the Rome Statute from 1993-1998 to better explain and situate the criticisms levied against the ICC today. She holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law from the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) and a Master of Arts in Political Science with specialization in Migration and Ethnic Relations. Both her LL.M. and M.A. degrees focused on sexual and gender-based crimes within the contexts of international criminal law and transitional justice.

Heartfelt welcome to Sarah!