The Registrar closes ICC regional training seminar in Yaoundé, Cameroon

On closing the Regional Training Seminar on the International Criminal Court (ICC), held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Ms Silvana Arbia, the Registrar of the Court, congratulated the participants, saying: “you have just confirmed that the Court, your Court, is not a foreign Court, [and that] it forms an integral part of national judicial systems”.

After five days of intensive and productive work on the theme “Perspectives on the issues and challenges facing international criminal justice: the International Criminal Court and national courts”, representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, of the National Bar Associations and of civil society organisations of eight French-speaking countries in central Africa adopted a report containing their recommendations and conclusions from their work. These suggestions will also strengthen cooperation and implement positive complementarity, said Ms Arbia.

The Registrar thanked the Ministry of Justice of Cameroon, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for their vital assistance in organising the Seminar. She also emphasised the special relationship between Cameroon and the Court, even though Cameroon has not yet ratified the Rome Statute. This relationship is illustrated by “Cameroon’s regular positive responses to the Court’s requests for cooperation, and its readiness to host this seminar,” said the Registrar.

Over a five-day period, participants from Burundi, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Chad shared their views with senior representatives of the Court and experts. A series of workshops focused on issues such as the place of the ICC within the international criminal justice system, its mandate and structure, the principles governing its jurisdiction and the rights of parties and participants in proceedings before the Court.

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