DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE
CANBERRA ACT 2600
30 September 1997
Mr Danilo Quinto
Treasurer of the Transnational Radical Party
97-113 Rue Belliard
1047 Bruxelles
Belgium
Dear Mr Quinto
Thank you for your letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of 27 August 1997 concerning the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court. The Minister has asked me to respond on his behalf, and I apologise for the delay.
The Australian Government strongly supports the Criminal Court project as an important signal of the international community's commitment to deal with the most serious crimes of international concern, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and remains firmly committed to the Court's early establishment. In his address to the National Press Club to mark Human Rights Day on 10 December 1996, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, announced the establishment of an International Criminal Court as "one of the Government's prime multilateral and human rights objectives in the next two years". Mr Downer also lent his strong personal backing to the establishment of a Court.
The Government is aware of the close interest in the establishment of an International Criminal Court on the part of non-governmental organisations and other organisations throughout the world. The strong public concern to see the international community move finally to set up a permanent international criminal tribunal has been an important factor in determining the level of our involvement in the Criminal Court process.
Australia has participated actively in all stages of the work in the United Nations on the establishment of an International Criminal Court. The Australian delegation to the 52nd session of the United Nations General Assembly has been instructed to strongly support the draft resolution convening a Diplomatic Conference in Rome in June 1998 to finalise negotiations and to adopt the Statute for the Court. In accordance with the International Criminal Court's status as a Ministerial priority, the Australian delegation will continue its active participation in the future negotiations towards the early establishment of a Court.
Yours sincerely,
Noel Campbell
Acting Legal Adviser