Preparatory Committee on Establishment of International Criminal Court

Second Session

38th meeting PM

QUALIFICATIONS, TERMS, ELECTION METHOD OF JUDGES FOR PROPOSED COURT FOCUS OF PREPARATORY COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Judges serving with the proposed international criminal court should primarily be experienced in criminal law proceedings, several delegates said this afternoon meeting of the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court as discussion continued on the composition and administration of the court.

The representative of Denmark said that while judges should be primarily experienced in criminal law, experience in international humanitarian law would also be valuable. Many other delegations, including Egypt, Canada, Singapore and Argentina agreed with that view.

Argentina indicated that the justices of the proposed court should reflect the major legal systems, an equitable regional distribution and gender balance. But all those considerations should be "flexibility applied, without any kind of quotas, he added.

As the court should be universal in character, Judges should be elected from States party to the court and non-States party alike, the representative of the Netherlands said. The election method of the International Criminal Court of Justice -- with its simultaneous tallies in the General Assembly and in the Security Council -- could serve as a precedent, he added. Guatemala added that the possibility of appointing a judge from a non-party State mi encourage that State to become a party to the court.

Portugal said that the draft statute should provide for election of judges who were of "recognized competence". Judges should be elected by States party to the court, from among candidates from those countries. Venezuela said that the court should comprise 18 judges elected nine-year terms, with one-third of the Judges being replaced every three years.

Slovakia said that the size of the court should be commensurate with the tasks entrusted to it. It should not accept a rigid quantity of judges.

Egypt, noting that the draft statute stipulated that the court's judges "should have the qualifications required for the appointment to the highest judicial offices", indicated that this imperative would perhaps preclude most legal systems in the world since they do not have an actual system of appointment.

The representative of Ireland said that the Preparatory Committee should recall that it was establishing the premier court of international law. Judges before the court should be masters of issues within its competence.

The court should be able to fully remunerate judges, said the representative of Germany, unless it was prepared to work only with "retired military judges and law professors". Pakistan said that judges should be elected on a permanent basis, with their remuneration from the court serving as their principle source of income. The international criminal court should not have to accepted judges by secondment from governments.

Denmark said that the draft statute should include an obligatory age of retirement for judges. Several delegations cited the mandatory retirement age suggested by France, at the age 75, while others said that retirement t age 70 was acceptable. Singapore suggested that a ceiling of 61 years -- or 66, if the French proposal was accepted -- was advisable for candidates to the bench, considering a nine-year term.

Various opinions were expressed regarding the number of judges of the proposed criminal court. Egypt commented that "one could speculate as to the amount of work the proposed court would have". Budgetary questions should not be a major consideration, at the present stage of discussion, he added. The proposed international criminal court should be properly referred to as a "tribunal", with only the judicial organ itself referred to as a court.

The Preparatory Committee will meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m. to continue its discussion of various articles of the draft statute of the proposed court.