Reviewing the ICC's Jurisdiction over the Crime…

Welcoming remarks: H.E. Paivi Kaukoranta, President of the ICC Assembly of States Parties

Panelists:

• H.E. Christian Wenaweser, Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the UN
• Dr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, President and CEO of the International Peace Institute
• Prof. Oona Hathaway, Yale Law School (TBC)
• Prof. Jennifer Trahan, Convenor of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression

Closing remarks: H.E. Fatou Bensouda, former Chief Prosecutor of the ICC

Moderator: Ms. Elizabeth Evenson, Director of the International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch

While the ICC has been able to exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression since 2018, its jurisdictional reach with respect to this crime is limited. In order to protect the UN Charter's prohibition of the illegal use of force, the keystone of the international legal order, from erosion, it is more important now than ever to take steps to deter the crime of aggression, and to be able to prosecute the crime should deterrence fail. At this serious juncture, it is critical that States remove the restrictions on the ICC's jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, thereby harmonizing the ICC's jurisdiction over all four of its core crimes, reducing selectivity, and overcoming a significant double-standard in the international legal architecture.

As part of an agreement at the first ICC Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda to adopt the crime of aggression amendments to the Rome Statute of the ICC, States decided to mandate a review of the Kampala amendments on the crime of aggression – in 2025.