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Support for the International Criminal Court

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.​