The Rome Statute - What's Next? Domestic and Foreign Approaches to the Implementation of International Criminal Law in National Law
Greetings from the Foreign Ministry The Foreign Ministry is pleased that the conference on the law of peoples entitled 'Rome Statute - What's Next? A Conference on Domestic and Foreign Approaches to the Implementation of International Criminal Law in National Law'will be held in Berlin on 21/22 October 2000 by the International Criminal Law Society (ICLS). It has become increasingly apparent, both in the international public sphere and in Germany, that the Statute of the future International Criminal Court adopted on 17 July 1998 in Rome represent an extraordinarily significant progress in the effort to secure the rule of law in international relations. The Treaty of Rome provides that individuals who have violated duties to the international community as a whole may be held liable before an independent international judicial institution, in the event that individual states are either unwilling or unable to prosecute earnestly a particular serious crime. Those states which, as does Germany, resolutely support the future International Criminal Court are now faced with the task of transforming the provisions and principles contained in the Rome Statute into their individual national legal systems. The conference in Berlin will make an important contribution, also from a comparative law perspective, to identifying approaches and routes by means of which the signatory states can fulfill this important task. In addition, the conference offers younger jurists interested in the law of peoples and in international criminal law -- above all those from the Berlin area -- an excellent and welcome opportunity to become more closely acquainted through the lectures of international experts with the manifold questions posed for both national and international law by the project of the tribunal. The effort to establish the International Criminal Court is dependent upon broad support within civil society, and qualified younger jurists can play an important and responsible role in this respect. As a visible sign of our support for the conference, the Foreign Ministry will hold a reception for conference participants on 21 October. Hans-Peter Kaul Head of International Law Department, Foreign Office Germany
The Conference Program Date: 21./22. October 2000 Place: Main Town Hall of Berlin "Rotes Rathaus", Jüdenstraße 1-9 (side entrance)
Saturday (21 October): 9.30 INTRODUCTION Matthias Neuner (ICLS) Prof. Dr. Herwig Roggemann (Free University Berlin) Hans-Peter Kaul (Head of International Law Department, Foreign Office Germany) 10.00 FIRST LECTURE Experiences with the Prosecution of International Crimes at the International Level Morten Bergsmo, (ICTY, Office of the Prosecutor, Norway) Questions and Discussion 10.45 COFFEE / TEA 11.00 SECOND LECTURE ROUND Domestic legislative plans to implement definitions of international crimes as contained in the Rome Statute - A general overview Anna Segall (International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva): Punishment of war crimes at the national level: Obligations under international humanitarian law and the complementarity principle established by the International Criminal Court. Jennifer Schense (Coalition for an International Criminal Court, New York) Punishment of crimes against humanity and genocide at the national level: Obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law and the complementarity principle established by the Rome Statute. Co-speaker: Christopher Hall (Amnesty International, London) Questions and Discussion 12.30 LUNCH 13.30 Approaches of common law countries to implement international crimes as contained in the Rome Statute John A. Gilbert (Home Office, Sentences and Offences Unit, U.K.): The Rome Statute - What next? - UK Approach to Implementation of ICC Crimes Juliet Hay (Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand): Implementing the Rome statute: A pragmatic approach from a small common law jurisdiction. Questions and Discussion 15.00 COFFEE / TEA 15.15 FOURTH LECTURE ROUND Approaches of common law countries to implement international crimes as contained in the Rome Statute Darryl Robinson (Foreign Office Canada): Implementing international Crimes: The Canadian Approach. Prof. Dr. William Schabas (Irish Centre for Human Rights): Implementing the ICC Statute: Approaches by common law jurisdiction. Questions and Discussion 16.45 COFFEE / TEA 17.00 FIFTH LECTURE ROUND Approaches of civil law countries to implement international crimes as contained in the Rome Statute Sven Corthout (Department of Justice, Belgium): The Implementation System in Belgium. Dr. Daniel Frank (Department of Justice, Switzerland): Implementation of the Rome Statute in Switzerland - Criminal Law Aspects. Gilbert Bitti ( Department of Justice, France): Implementing international crimes: A presentation of the French Approach. Questions and Discussion 19.30 RECEPTION - German Foreign Office Sunday (22 October): 9.30 INTRODUCTION 9.35 SIXTH LECTURE ROUND Approaches of civil law countries to the Implementation of international crimes as contained in the Rome Statute Prof. Dr. Ari Matti Nuutila (University of Turku, Finland): The ICC Statute and the Finnish Criminal Code. Dr. Michael Gebauer (Federal Ministry of Justice, Germany): Outline for a German International Crimes Code. Questions and Discussion 11.00 COFFEE/ TEA 11.15 SEVENTH LECTURE ROUND The "General and Particular Sections" of the German Code of International Penal Law from the Perspective of Comparative Law Prof. Dr. Herwig Roggemann (Free University Berlin, Germany): Some reflections on penalty and enforcement in International Criminal Law. Dr. Andreas Zimmermann (Max-Planck Institute, Heidelberg): Implementing the Rome Statute in the German domestic legal order with regard to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Questions and Discussion 12.45 CLOSING REMARKS 13.15 LUNCH AND FAREWELL RECEPTION