President Song meets with Secretary-General of the United Nations

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Judge Sang-Hyun Song met today in New York in the margins of the 9th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. They agreed to further strengthen the relationship between the ICC and the UN, recalling that the struggle against impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to humanity is integral to the global efforts for peace, justice and the rule of law.

 

President Song conveyed to the Secretary-General the ICC’s gratitude for the wide-ranging support that the United Nations has extended to the International Criminal Court since the very beginning. In particular, he thanked the Secretary-General for his strong personal engagement at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute held earlier this year in Kampala, Uganda.

 

The Secretary-General and President Song discussed the way forward on the key objectives of universality, complementarity and cooperation in order to build on the momentum reached at the Review Conference. They agreed on the importance of raising awareness globally about the ICC and promoting ratification of the Rome Statute particularly in regions that are underrepresented among the States Parties.

 

They also discussed the potential for the UN to play a key role in the strengthening of national justice systems by increasing focus on Rome Statute issues within rule of law programming and development aid. Under the principle of complementarity enshrined in the Rome Statute, national jurisdictions have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Associate Legal Outreach Officer, on +31 (0)70 515-9152 or at [email protected]

 

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