Statement by H.E. Mrs. Annette Des Iles

Sixth Committee

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Mr. Chairman,

... a year ago the I.L.C. was mandated by the Forty-Eighth Session of the General Assembly to continue its work on a draft Statute for an international criminal court and to elaborate, as a matter of priority, a draft Statute if possible at its forty-sixth session in 1994. In our wiew the Commission has completed its mandate. The draft Statute, which has been submitted to this Committee, represents a sound and balanced set of provisions for the establishement of an international criminal court, on which Governments should now take decisive action.

The present skillfully drafted text seeks to take into account comments made by States on the 1993 draft. In many respects it offers a number of compromise formulations on fundamental issues, which we believe should facilitate the widest possible acceptance by Members States.

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... The question now arises: where do we go from here? In accordance with the recommendation of the I.L.C., we share the wiew that the draft Statute for the Court is in a form which can be discussed by Gebernments within the framework of a diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries. This Session of the General Assembly should therefore set in motion the necessary arrangements for the convening of such a conference at the earliest possible date to conclude a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court.

Mr. Chairman, there appears to be no doubt that a permanent international body is urgently needed to take necessary and effective action against individuals responsible for exceptionally serious crimes of international concern. These persons must be brought to justice before an independent and impartial tribunal. The international community has already shown that once there is the political will, international criminal tribunals can be established. This is amply illustrated by the action of the Security Council when in 1993 it took the decision to set up the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Former Yugoslavia since 1991.

At present there are recommendations before the Security Council, that the individuals responsible for the grave violations of human rights in Rwanda during the armed conflict be brought to justice before an independent and impartial international criminal tribunal.

Mr. Chairman, we do not believe that a workable corpus of international criminal law could be elaborated through the establishment of "ad hoc" tribunals. It is therefore our belief that there is need for a permanent court, one that could be in place to respond swiftly and decisively when the demand arises. Such a body would benefit from the experiences of already established international tribunals and once given the necessary support, will not only contribute to the progressive development of international law but also, at the same time, punish those who seek, with impunity, to destroy the very fabric of our societies.

Mr. Chairman, in 1989 Trinidad and Tobago, with the support of CARICOM Member States, re-introduced in this Committee the idea of an international criminal court, an idea which had been dormant for about thirty-five years. Five years ago the response to our initiative was such that there was perhaps reason to fear that the proposal might once again languish at the level of the International Law Commission, or the Sixth Committee, or even the General Assembly. It is against this background that we have been very heartened indeed by the positive deliberations now taking place in this Committee on the establishment of an International Criminal Court. We have no doubt that this is an idea whose time has come. The decade of 1990's has been declared the United Nationa Decade of International Law. Next year we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. The moment is right for a concrete manifestation on the part of the international community of its commitment to the rule of law to govern relations

among states. None would be more telling than the decision to establish an international criminal court.