International Criminal Court 10 Years after the Rome Conference (2008)
On Friday, April 25, 2008, IHRLI hosted the Midwest
Regional Conference on International Justice: The International Criminal
Court 10 Years After the Rome Conference. The conference was one of
three national events focusing on international justice supported by the
J D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The conference included
presentations by the Philippe Kirsch, President of the ICC, Luis
Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the ICC, ADD NAME the Legal Adviser to the
US Secretary of State, legal scholars and experts on the Sudan, Uganda,
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, countries where the Court has
ongoing cases. The event included a luncheon with a keynote address by
Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni. IHRLI also hosted an interactive
pre-conference student event to familiarize students with the work of
the ICC, including presentations by Amnesty International, the Coalition
for the International Criminal Court, the Institute for War and Peace
Reporting and Global Kids (web link to material at this event at: http://www.justicecenter.net).
ICC Judicial Capacity Strengthening
IIHRLI supported ISISC in creating the first ICC
Judicial Capacity Strengthening session in June 2004 which included
participation of fifteen of the eighteen ICC judges. The training was
designed by ICC Vice President Judge Anita Usacka and Professor M.
Cherif Bassiouni to clarify technical issues regarding the Rome Statute
including a review of the elements of key crimes, rules of procedure and
evidence and related court regulations. This was the first gathering of
ICC judges outside The Hague since the Rome Statute that established
the ICC entered into force in July 2002.
Technical Legal Assistance to Least Developed Countries
IHRLI created this project in 1997 to encourage the
participation of representatives from least developed countries (LDCs)
in a series of conferences leading to the establishment of the
International Criminal Court. Through this project, the Institute
supported over two hundred delegates from fifty-three LDCs in
participating at the International Preparatory Commission meetings as
well as the first three meetings of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP)
in New York and The Hague. The project was helped ensure that the
world’s poorest countries were able to influence the negotiations that
defined the mandate and operation of the first permanent international
criminal tribunal to address severe violations of international human
rights and humanitarian law.