Agenda Includes Fair Trial, Rights of Accused and Procedural Items

The Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of n International Criminal Court should forge a "bridge" between the common law and civil law systems, the Committee was told this morning by its Chairman, Adriann Bos (Netherlands), as it begam its second session which is schedule to run through 30 August.

In brief comments delivered before the Committee adjourned for a meeting of its bureau, the Chairman said that the mandate of the Preparatory Committee was to work on the basis of the draft statute of the proposed criminal court originally produced by the International Law Commission. Any new working papers or drafts put to the Committee should, therefore, be related to the draft.

"We should remain within our mandate", he continued. "We would be well served if all new drafts were related to the draft of the International Law Commission." The Preparatory Committee had narrowed the purview of the proposed court to concise list of "core crimes", he recalled.

The three-week session of the Preparatory Committee will consist of agenda items not taken up at the first session - procedural items, fair trial and rights of the accused, the establishment of the court and its relationship with the United Nations. The third week will focus on a second reading of issues raised at the first session -- the list of crimes to be dealt with by the court, the liability of corporations and individuals, the relationship between the proposed international court and national courts, "trigger mechanisms" for initiating court action, and the role of the prosecutor or Security Council.

The representative of France said that his delegation would be presenting a "rewriting" of the statute of the international criminal court, embracing all 154 articles, including procedures, guarantees, the organization of the court and especially the organization of the early stages of the proceedings. special attention was given to various key issue such as the sovereignty of States, defence question and the need for a permanent organ.

The Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court will meet again at 3 p.m. this afternoon.