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Action Alert ! Update
KEEP SENDING LETTERS
CONCERNING PARITY OF WOMEN AND MEN
ON THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
(May 2002)
The Ninth Session of the Preparatory Commission for the
International Criminal Court concluded on 19 April 2002. It was an eventful
session with the deposit on 11 April of the 60th ratification necessary to
bring the Rome Statute into force. On that day, 10 countries completed their
ratifications bringing the total number to 66. As a result, the Rome Statute
will now enter into force on
1
July 2002
at which time the Court's jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity will take effect.
Now, there is just one more session of the ICC Preparatory Commission (PrepCom)
scheduled before the first meeting of the Assembly of States Parties will be
convened. The 10th and final session of the Preparatory Commission will be
held from 1-12 July 2002 and the Assembly of States Parties will meet for the
first time in September 2002.
Government delegates at this Prepcom began negotiating rules of procedure that
will govern the nomination and election of judges, prosecutor and deputy
prosecutors. There is a great deal of resistance on the part of some countries
to develop rules that will ensure the statute's mandates of fair
representation of women and men and geographical representation are carried
out. The delegates must complete the negotiations at the next Prepcom in July
in order to have procedures in place for the first meeting of the Assembly of
States Parties in September.
We circulated an Action Alert during the Prepcom and ASK THAT YOU PLEASE
CONTINUE SENDING LETTERS to your foreign ministers, ministers of justice and
women, and UN Missions and demand that they support the development of
procedures and practices that will ensure there is a fair representation of
women and men and real geographical representation among the members of the
Court.
The period for submitting nominations will likely begin at the first meeting
of the Assembly in September with the close of the nomination period sometime
between October and December. Elections will then take place in January 2003
with the official opening of the Court slated for sometime in March.
The following is a draft letter for you to adopt and/or adapt and send to the
relevant officials:
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(Letter to Ministries and Missions)
Re: ICC Election Procedures
Dear Madame/Sir,
We are writing to express our serious concerns regarding the negotiations at
the Ninth Session of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal
Court relating to the elections of judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutors.
As you know, on 11 April 2002 the Rome Statute obtained the required number of
ratifications for entry into force on 1 July 2002 a moment we are very much
hoping will signal an end to impunity for crimes committed predominately
against women which have long been overlooked by the international justice
mechanisms of the past.
We are very concerned, however, that immediately in the wake of this historic
occasion, there seemed to be less real commitment at the Ninth session to
carry forward the gender mainstreaming mandates of the Rome Statute when it
comes to the elections of judges and other posts. 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 be accorded a presence in such institutions on an
equitable footing.
You have a historic opportunity to ensure that the ICC is standard-setting
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 demand the
following:
1. That "fair representation of female and male" in article
36(8)(a)of the Rome Statute be explicitly recognized as parity of women and
men. In the context of the ICC this would amount to at least 8 men or women on
the Court. This is not a quota - it is what is fair given that women make up
half the world's population. It amounts to a margin of 45-55 percent either
way. Anything less than this would replicate the systemic discrimination on
the basis of gender in this new institution;
2. That a mechanism be developed and included in the rules of procedures
relating to elections that will ensure this fair representation in the outcome
of the elections;
3. That the election procedures be fully transparent and provide ample
opportunity for a thorough review of candidate's qualifications and
background;
4. That an advisory committee be established in accordance with article
36(4)(c) which would be comprised of experts and members of civil society so
as to avoid on the possibility or appearance of bias on the part of delegates
representing their countries in the Assembly of States Parties;
5. That the advisory committee be authorized to extend the nomination period
in the event the pool of candidates does not reflect the balances required by
the Statute and rules;
6. That the advisory committee also be authorized to nullify the nomination
round and open a new one in the event that the balances
required by the Statute and rules are not met and an extension would not
facilitate such a balance;
7. That the election procedures also ensure a presence of judges on the Court,
whether female or male, with legal expertise on violence against women and
violence against children, pursuant to article 36(8)(b)of the Rome Statute.
We expect that our delegation to the Preparatory Commission will actively
participate in the resolution of these matters toward a
satisfactory and non-discriminatory outcome in furtherance of the aims of the
Rome Statute.
Signed,
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For a listing of contact information for UN Missions,
see http://www.un.org/Overview/missions.htm.
For a listing of contact information for Foreign Ministries in the
capitals, see http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/world.html.
Please forward a copy of your letters also to the Women's Caucus for
Gender Justice.
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BACKGROUND:
Though the ICC will not be a part of the United Nations, we know from
experience of monitoring elections for similar posts in the UN system that the
need for fair representation of women and men is not taken seriously in the
elections, which are also often highly suspect in terms of the vote-trading
that accompanies these elections.
As a result, the presence of women in the international posts has been
appallingly low. Due to the nature of these processes it has also often been
difficult for NGO's to monitor the elections and evaluate the background of
candidates. An added problem is that qualified women are very rarely informed
about the opportunities of the posts at the international level or of the
process of nomination at the national level.
Some examples:
Only one woman has ever served as a judge on the International Court of Justice throughout its more than 80-year history.
The 34-member International Law Commission had no women throughout its 55-year
history until late last year at which time two women were elected.
In the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda there have been
at most 3 women serving at any one time among the 14 permanent judges.
Currently,at the ICTY, there is only one woman serving as a permanent judge.
The ICC will be the first major international institution of the 21st century
- indeed of this millennium - developed via multilateral treaty. The shapers
of this historic institution must continue to take bold strides in ensuring
that women, who make up half the world's population, are finally guaranteed an
equitable presence in such institutions. It is no longer acceptable to abide
the reluctance of states to nominate women or to blame the lack of appropriate
female representation on the myth that there is a lack of qualified women.
In the same way that the ICC, as an independent and impartial mechanism, is
intended to be a fairer and more democratic judicial institution as a counter
to the abusive rule of raw power in the world, so it must also counter the
effects of power disparities between women and men through its procedures and
practices. This, along with appropriate geographical representation, is
critical to ensuring the Court's legitimacy among the peoples of the world -
which, though it seems obvious, includes women.
In the ICC context, the Women's Caucus is advocating that "fair
representation" be understood as parity of women and men, meaning a
margin of 45-55 percent either way. We are also arguing that there is an
obligation to develop mechanisms in the election process that ensure parity in
the outcome of the elections. While a parity of women and men on the Court is
an overarching principle and a critical part of a full-fledged commitment to
non-discrimination on the basis of gender, the Statute also mandates the
presence of judges, male or female, with legal expertise on specific issues
including violence against women and children.
This moment presents an opportunity to break from the old patterns that have
prevented women from participating on an equal
footing in our international institutions. Please take the time to forward
these concerns to your relevant officials and parliamentarians. At the same
time, we urge those of you in countries that have ratified the ICC to contact
your foreign ministries to find out whether and how the nomination process will proceed and
also whether candidates have already been identified and demand that women
candidates be considered and put forward. It is expected that the first
meeting of the Assembly of States Parties will be held in September 2002 at
which time the nomination process will open. It will then likely close some
time in late October and then the first elections of the full panel of 18
judges will be held in January 2003.
CRITERIA FOR JUDGES OF THE ICC:
The Rome Statute sets out a series of criteria that are to be applied to
potential candidates for elected posts for the ICC.
Article 36(3)(b) requires that judicial nominees have experience in criminal
law and procedure with experience as a judge, prosecutor, Or advocate in
criminal proceedings OR competence relevant areas of international law, such
as humanitarian lawa nad the law of human rights.
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 and a representation of
the principle legal systems of the world.
Article 37(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."
According to article 36(4)(b), candidates must be nationals of a State Party
to the Rome Statute though they need not be nominated by their own country.
Candidates must have an excellent knowledge of or be fluent in at least one of
the working languages of the Court - English, French, Spanish, Russian,
Chinese and Arabic.
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For more information about these and other issues or for a copy of our short
guide to the nomination and election process for Judges to the International
Criminal Court, please contact us.
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