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WOMEN ON THE COURT NOW
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Campaign Communique No. 1
(17September 2002)
-12 Week Window of Opportunity to Get
Women on the ICC -
Dear friends,
Over the last five years, women from different parts of
the world have come together through the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice to
influence the negotiations toward the creation of the International Criminal
Court (ICC) from a gender perspective. The support by a large number of groups
and individuals who raised awareness of gender issues in the negotiations,
acted upon action alerts and/or advocated in the capitals and at national and
regional levels is largely responsible for the successes achieved in this
process.
Now, we are entering the establishment phase of the
process and one of the first major acts of the Assembly of States Parties is
to elect the judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutor. ONCE AGAIN we need the
combined efforts and actions of the international women's human rights
movement and other civil society actors during this critical phase. There is a
very short window of opportunity to help ensure a substantial presence of
women in the Court as judges as well as prosecutor and deputy prosecutors. In
order for this court to have legitimacy in the eyes of the world, it must have
a representative face and must include a fair representation of women and men.
We know from experience how important it is to have women on the Court in
addition to legal experts on violence against women to help ensure the proper
investigation and prosecution of crimes of gender and sexual violence.
The nomination period for judges and the prosecutor
opened on 9 September and will close on 30 November 2002. The elections will
be held from February 3-7, 2002. Of the nine countries that have announced
their candidates so far, only one has put forward a woman (Switzerland).
Eighteen judges will be elected in February 2003 and the
voting procedure is such that each country must vote for at least six women
and men. However, to maintain this minimum voting requirement for women, there
must be at least nine women nominated to begin with. In the event there are
fewer than nine female candidates, the minimum voting requirement is reduced.
(See attached information sheet.) While these are minimum voting requirements
are important, the goal must be nothing less than parity of women and men
which could be accomplished by achieving a high number of nominations of
qualified women.
The period within which to influence this is very brief
hence the urgency of this campaign.
At the same time, there has been little noticeable
effort to identify qualified candidates for the position of Prosecutor. This
is alarming as the Prosecutor will be the public face of the Court and much of
the direction the Court takes strategically, legally and politically will
depend on the quality of the Prosecutor. A prosecutor that would use the
position to cater to the concerns of powerful countries would set the ICC on a
dangerous course. The task of identifying qualified candidates, male and
female, for the office of the prosecutor is critical. Women's groups must
advocate that countries seek out, identify and nominate qualified women for
this position as well as that of the deputy prosecutors who will be elected
later next year.
Attached and pasted below are the following documents:
I. Draft letter that could be adapted and sent out to
all state parties or directed to one state party at the national level;
II. Information sheet containing basic information such
as criteria for candidates and relevant rules governing the nomination and
election process;
III. List of countries that have ratified the ICC
statute (only state parties can nominate their own nationals or nationals from
other state parties);
We call upon you to actively participate in this
campaign and take all or any of the following actions:
* Write letters (draft letter attached) to all state
parties at their capitals and UN Missions (except those that have already
announced their nominations) about the importance of nominating qualified
women judges and demanding to know what the country is doing to seek out
qualified women as candidates. (For a listing of government contact
information, see http://worldworld.com. Click on 'enter' at the bottom of the
homepage and then select the appropriate country. For a listing of contact
information for UN Missions, see http://www.un.org/Overview/missions.htm
* If you are from a country that is a party to the ICC,
adapt the attached draft letter and address it to the Head of State, officials
at the Foreign, Justice and Women's ministries (if there is one), urging the
nomination of qualified women judges. (Contact information can be found at the
above web sites.)
* Forward, circulate and adopt the campaign at the
regional and national levels;
* Put the campaign information on your website or link
your website to ours - www.iccwomen.org
* Check the official ICC website http://www.un.org/law/icc/elections/judges/judges_nominations.htm
and the website of the Women's Caucus www.iccwomen.org
for officially announced nominations. If your country has announced a
candidate, please evaluate the track record of his or her career as a judge or
a legal professional from human rights and gender perspective and provide your
feedback to the Assembly of States Parties of the ICC and the Women's Caucus
for Gender Justice.
* Speak and circulate information about the Campaign at
all meetings and conferences to be held before mid-November 2002 where women's
rights activist, human rights activists, legal professionals and members of
jurists association assemble.
* Write to us if you have information about qualified
women who are potential candidates and whether she is encountering obstacles
at the national level;
Finally, we hope you will not succumb to email fatigue
as you may receive other action alerts from us during this short span of 11-12
weeks concerning the nomination of qualified women candidates if the
candidates. We appreciate any action you have taken thus far in response to
previous alerts.
Twelve weeks is all we have to influence this process
and your action is critical. Remember - parity is the aspiration and
nomination of a high number of qualified women judges is the goal. We need
WOMEN ON THE WORLD'S FIRST PERMANENT CRIMINAL COURT and WE NEED IT NOW.
In solidarity,
Women's Caucus for Gender Justice
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I. Draft Letter to Prime Ministers/Presidents, Foreign/Justice/Women's
Ministries, Parliamentarians and Missions
NOTE: Please insert the name of the country the letter
is addressed to everywhere you see [name of country].
Re: Nomination of Qualified Women as Judges, Prosecutor
and Deputy Prosecutor to the International Criminal Court
Excellency,
We understand that at the first meeting of the Assembly
of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) from 3-9 September
2002, the rules for nomination and election of judges were adopted and the
nomination period was officially opened. We are now writing to express our
serious concern that the mandates of the Rome Statute regarding a fair
representation of women and men in the composition of the Court be fulfilled.
The record of women in different legal institutions at
the international level has been dismal. Currently, there is only one woman
judge serving at both the International Court of Justice and the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Three women are serving on the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and no women are serving on the
21-member International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Further, the recently
released list of candidates for election to the ICJ does not contain even one
woman candidate.
Given the difficulties in the negotiations of rules for
the election of judges and the fact that only one of the nine countries which
have so far announced their candidates has put forward a woman, we are
concerned that there is less real commitment among the States Parties to carry
forward the gender mainstreaming mandates of the Rome Statute. The ICC will be
the first international institution of the 21st century, indeed of the new
millennium, established by multi-lateral treaty and is the first of its kind.
It is time, finally, that women are accorded a presence in such institutions
on an equitable footing.
[Name of country], as a State Party to the Rome Statute,
has a historic opportunity to ensure that the ICC sets a new standard with
respect to a presence of women on the Court. Doing so will only increase its
esteem and prestige in the world. In light of this, we request the following
information:
Is [name of country] intending to nominate a candidate
for the position of judge, prosecutor or deputy prosecutor?
1.. If so, what steps is [name of country] taking to
ensure that a 'fair representation of female and male" judges in article
36(8)(a) of the Rome Statute is achieved? 2.. What specific steps is [name of
country] taking to seek out, identify and nominate qualified women candidates
for the position of judge, prosecutor or deputy prosecutor? 3.. What is the
process by which [name of country] evaluates whether a candidate meets the
criteria required for the position? Are endorsement of human rights and
awareness of gender issues among them? 4.. To what extent has your government
consulted with NGO's and representatives of civil society in the selection and
nomination of your potential candidate? With only twelve weeks to go before
the nomination period closes on 30 November, we believe that governments of
States Parties must take active steps to ensure that qualified women
candidates are nominated. We look forward to an immediate response to the
above concerns.
Signed,
[your name]
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II.
Women on the Court Now ! Campaign Information Sheet
In February 2003, elections will be held for the first
18 judges and Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The Rome Statute
sets out a series of criteria that are to be applied to potential candidates
for elected posts for the ICC. Resolutions of the Assembly of States Parties
sets out the rules governing the nomination and election process.
§ CRITERIA FOR JUDGES OF THE ICC:
- Candidates must be nationals of a State Party -
Article 36(4)(b)
- Candidates should have excellent knowledge and be
fluent in at least one o fthe working languages of the Court (English and
French) - Article 36(3)(c)
- Must be persons of 'high moral character, impartiality
and integrity' - Article 36(3)(a)
Article 36(3)(b) requires that judicial nominees have
'established competence' in:
(a) criminal law and procedure and 'necessary relevant
experience' whether as a judge, prosecutor, or advocate in criminal
proceedings or
(b) relevant areas of international law, such as
humanitarian law and the law of human rights.
There must be at least nine candidates with experience
from List A and at least five from List B
In addition, article 36(8)(a) of the statute requires
that States Parties take into account the need for:
- a fair representation of female and male judges;
- equitable geographical representation;
- a representation of the principle legal systems of the
world
Article 36 (8)(b) provides that States Parties must also
"take into Account the need to include judges with legal expertise on
specific issues including, but not limited to, violence against women or
children."
§ NOMINATION PROCEDURES
Rome Statute Requirements:
According to Article 36(4)(a), states may choose one of
two procedures they will use to nominate candidates:
(1) Through the procedure for nomination of candidates
for appointment to highest judicial office;
(2) Through the procedure for nomination of candidates
for the International Court of Justice
Note: The procedure for nomination to the ICJ is often
much more difficult to discern in the national system. Candidates are chosen
by the national groups of the Permanent Court of Arbitrators. Normally four
persons comprise the national group who ideally select candidates and submit
them through the relevant ministry. However, this process is often very
informal and non-transparent. To find out who the national groups are
comprised of visit: www.pca-cpa.org/PDF/Members.pdf.
States must also submit a statement detailing how the
candidate fulfills the statute's criteria.
Assembly of States Parties Rules:
The ICC Assembly of States parties adopted a set of
resolutions containing rules that will govern the nomination and election of
judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutor. They provide the following:
Nomination Period: The ICC Assembly of States Parties
opened the nomination period on 9 September 2002. The nomination period will
close on 30 November 2002.
The President of the ASP must inform all States Parties
of the status of nominations as of 1 November 2002 and must specifically
identify:
- whether there are fewer candidates with criminal law
experience or international law experience than what is required by the
Statute;
- whether there are fewer candidates from each region
than is required by the resolution of the ASP;
- whether there are fewer than 10 male or female
candidates as required by the resolution of the ASP
If at the end of the nomination period, there are fewer
candidates in each of these categories than what is required by the Statute or
the resolution of the Assembly, then the President of the ASP must extend the
nomination period to 8 December 2002 in order to allow more time for
additional nominations.
§ ELECTION OF JUDGES
The first elections of the judges will be held from 3-7
February 2003 at UN Headquarters in New York. At this election, all 18 judges
will be elected. According to article 36(9), six of these judges will serve a
3-year term, another six will serve a 6-year term and the remaining six will
serve a 9-year term. This will be determined by drawing lots. Afterward,
elections will be held every 3 years for six judges at a time.
A resolution adopted by the Assembly of States Parties
sets in place a series of minimum voting requirements intended to ensure a the
statute's mandates of 'fair representation' of women and men and equitable
geographical distribution are carried out. Accordingly, each state party must
vote for at least 3 candidates for each region unless the number of States
Parties from a region is less than 1/6 the total number of States Parties to
the Rome Statute at the time of the election.
Minimum Voting Requirement (MVR) for Gender: During the
balloting, each State Party must vote for at least six women and at least six
men provided that the number of candidates from each sex is greater than 10.
If the number of candidates from one gender is 10 or less, the Assembly
adopted the following formula that will be applied to determine what the
minimum voting requirement should be:
If the number of candidates is: 9 or 10, the MVR is six.
7 or 8, the MVR is five.
6, the MVR is four.
5, the MVR is three.
4, the MVR is two.
2 or 3, the MVR is one.
All of the minimum voting requirements - regional,
gender and area of expertise - will be applied during the first four rounds of
voting and will be adjusted after each round according to the candidates
elected and the fulfillment of the requirements. However, the minimum voting
requirements will be suspended altogether after four rounds of voting and the
elections will be open.
§ CRITERIA FOR ELECTION OF THE PROSECUTOR
Article 42(3) of the Rome Statute requires that the
Prosecutor must be of high moral character, be highly competent in and have
extensive practical experience in the prosecution or trial of criminal cases
and have excellent knowledge of and be fluent in at least one of the working
language of the Court.
A resolution of the Assembly of States Parties provides
that nominations should be made with the support of multiple States Parties.
The resolution also provides that the election of the Prosecutor should be by
consensus. If consensus is not possible, then the candidate obtaining the
highest number of votes and an absolute majority will be considered elected.
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III.
States Parties to the Rome Statute (79) - as of 9
September 2002
Andorra Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Australia
Austria Belgium Belize Benin Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia,
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ireland, Jordan, Mongolia, Niger, Romania
and Slovakia Botswana Brazil Canada Central African Republic Colombia * Costa
Rica Croatia Cyprus Denmark Dominica East Timor Ecuador Estonia Fiji Finland
France Gabon Gambia Germany Ghana Greece Honduras Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia
Lesotho Liechtenstein Luxembourg Macedonia, FYR Mali Marshall Islands
Mauritius Namibia Nauru Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Panama Paraguay
Peru Poland Portugal San Marino Senegal Sierra Leone Slovenia South Africa
Spain Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Tanzania Trinidad and Tobago Uganda United
Kingdom Uruguay Venezuela Yugoslavia
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