October 30, 1995

Statement by H.E. Ambassador Chen Shiqiu

An important task of this Committee is to give directions to the Ad Hoc Committee regarding its future work, including the question of convening a diplomatic conference. My delegation finds the two sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee this year productive. During the deliberations, consensus was reached on some questions, while on others, the knotty points were identified and tentative solutions explored. However it is undeniable that major differences still exist on questions such as the nature of the future Court, the application of the principle of complementarity, crimes under its jurisdiction, the exercise of its jurisdiction, the role of the Security Council and other substantive issues. The remaining task of the Ad Hoc Committee continues to be onerous and difficult. This assessment has led us to endorse the view of some delegations that it is premature at this stage to set a time for the convening of a diplomatic conference or to enter into preparations for such a conference. We favor a step by step evol

utionary approach to the establishment of the Court avoiding any rush into a decision. For example, we can continue the consideration of the substantive questions related to the draft Statute of an International Criminal Court elaborated by the ILC, including rules of the Court and administrative and financial questions. Priority should be given to the consideration of questions of major importance, on which broad consensus must be sought. Only when such consensus has been achieved should we set out to prepare a consolidated draft statute for the diplomatic conference to establish the Court. We therefore propose that the General Assembly adopt a resolution to extend and suitably expand the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee and ask it to continue its work and explore alternative solutions to the problems identified. The GA will decide on the question of the convening of the diplomatic conference after having considered the annual reports of the Ad Hoc Committee and in light of progress of its work.