Permanent Mission of Pakistan

to the United Nations

Statement

By Mr. Jamshed A. Hamid, Legal Adviser,

Member of Pakistan Delegation

Sixth Committee

54th Session United Nations General Assembly

Agenda Item: 158

Establishment of an International Criminal Court

21 October 1999

Mr. Chairman,

Let me begin by expressing our appreciation to Ambassador Philippe Kirsch for his able and skillful chairmanship of the first two sessions of the ICC Preparatory Commission. I would also like to express our thanks to Mrs.

Silvia Femandez de Gurruendi, the Coordinator for Working Group on Rules of Procedure and Mr. Herman van Hebel the Coordinator for Working Group on Elements of Crime for the excellent manner in which they handled the discussions. The vital role played by the Office of the Legal Counsel and the assistance provided by the Secretariat for facilitating the work of the Commission also deserve credit.

Pakistan views the establishment of the International Criminal Court as an effective deterrent to the commission of heinous crimes that have haunted mankind in several parts of the world in recent times and continue to be a burden on the conscience of humanity. Pakistan believes that this Court would be instrumental in deterring the criminals from committing crimes against humanity.

The establishment of ICC would ensure that those who commit serious crimes as defined in the statute of the court would not be able to do so with impunity. The Court will have a deterrent effect, forcing at least some of those tempted to commit atrocities to think twice before committing crimes. People planning truly heinous crimes would know that the international community would eventually hold them accountable. Victims and their families would also be able to reconcile with the painful past and enter a process of mental reconciliation in the knowledge that those who have committed atrocities had been brought to justice.

Mr. Chairman

It is the duty of every State to see that the perpetrators of heinous crimes committed within its jurisdiction should not go unpunished. A sovereign state would be failing in its duty if it permitted the perpetration of such heinous crimes, covered by the statute, to go unpunished. It is for this reason, that the principle of complementarity constitutes the basic edifice on which the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC is based.

Pakistan favours the establishment of an effective and strong International Criminal Court. Though Pakistan had a number of concerns with some of the provisions of the ICC statute, we supported the adoption of the Statute in Rome with the understanding and the expectation that the Preparatory Commission would make every effort to alleviate the concerns of all the delegations while drafting the Rules of Procedure and Elements of Crime. We believe that clear and unambiguous rules on the Court's practice would help States to safeguard their positions on critical issues and encourage them to become parties to the statute. In this respect, the understanding of each other's concerns and the will on part of each of us to address those concerns is very essential.

Our reservations to a number of provisions of the statute have been enunciated on many occasions. Our main concerns relate to those provisions which have the potential of impinging on the sovereignty of the State. In our understanding, the Court should complement and not supplant the national legal system. In Rome, Pakistan sought to make the ICC effective and independent within the spheres of its jurisdiction. However, there are still a number of provisions which tend to undermine this basic principle of complementarity. For instance, the proprio motu role given to the prosecutor to initiate investigation, the role assigned to the Security Council to initiate proceedings through referral and challenging of a trial conducted by a state, are provisions which tend to dilute the principle of complementarity.

Mr. Chairman,

We welcome the setting up of a Working Group on the issue of Aggression. We assure Mr. Tuvaku Manongi, the Coordinator of the Group of our full support for the realization of his work. We are aware that his task ahead would not be an easy one. The issues relating to the definition are complex but we feel that with understanding and goodwill we could overcome the difficulties and would be able to arrive at an acceptable definition of aggression.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.