ACTION ALERT 29 August 2002 ICC ASP TO FINALIZE RULES ON ELECTIONS OF JUDGES TAKE ACTION NOW TO DEMAND DELEGATES ADOPT RULES FOR FAIR GENDER and GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION and A TRANSPARENT PROCESS United Nations, New York - The first meeting of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be held from 3-10 SEPTEMBER 2002 at UN Headquarters in New York. Delegates at this meeting will finalize rules governing the elections of judges to the ICC. PLEASE CONTACT your foreign, justice and women's ministries demanding they support the adoption of rules in the ASP that will ensure fair representation of women and men and equitable geographic distribution in a fair and open process. For a listing of States Parties to the Rome Statute, visit: http://www.iccnow.org. See below for a copy of a draft letter. The negotiations of these rules were so controversial at the last session of the Preparatory Commission that delegates were unable to reach agreement prior to the deadline which resulted in the item being pushed onto the agenda of the ASP. These were the only rules that the ICC Preparatory Commission was unable to reach consensus agreement on in the four years of work since the Rome Statute was adopted. A few governments, led by the United Kingdom, are opposed to any rules for the voting process which would restrict their ability to 'vote-trade' prior to the elections to ensure their candidate gets elected. Often, governments trade votes for posts in international organizations without knowing anything about the candidate they have agreed to vote for. This is the practice generally in UN elections and it goes against basic democratic principles and has operated to the detriment of women. It is unacceptable for the world's first permanent criminal court. Currently, the only candidates who have been officially made public by their governments are men. The nomination period will open at the end of the meeting of the ASP on 10 September and will close at the end of November 2002. The elections of all 18 judges are expected to take place in February 2003. The elections must ensure the statute's mandates concerning fair representation of women and equitable geographic distribution are fully respected in the composition of the world's first permanent international criminal court. In addition, we must pressure our governments to undertake consultations with civil society, with women's groups in particular, prior to selecting a candidate. The selection at the national level is often undertaken by a few individuals without notice to civil society and relevant stakeholders. It is necessary to demand that governments open this process to civil society consultation and review prior to making their selections. They must also undertake every effort to seek out and nominate qualified women as candidates to these posts. For a listing of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute and that will be participating with full voting rights in the ASP, visit: http://www.iccnow.org. For a listing of government contact information, see http://worldworld.com Click on 'enter' at the bottom of the homepage and then select the appropriate country. For a listing of contact information for UN Missions, see http://www.un.org/Overview/missions.htm. We ask that you please also send us a copy of your letters. --------------- [Draft Letter to Ministries, Parliamentarians and Missions] Re: Procedures for Election of Judges to ICC Your Excellency, We are writing to commend [country] for being among the member states at the first official meeting of the Assembly of States Parties for the International Criminal Court. This is a historic moment and the Rome Statute has set a new standard for responding to crimes of sexual and gender violence in times of conflict as well in times of so-called peace. We hope this unprecedented attention to the mainstreaming of gender will continue as the institution finally comes into being. However, we are gravely concerned about the stalemate that occurred at the end of the 10th Session of the ICC Preparatory Commission in the negotiations of rules governing the election of judges. This first step is a most important one for building the world's trust and confidence in this institution that is so desperately needed in the world. It is critical that rules be adopted now that give effect to article 36(8)(a) of the Rome Statute concerning a fair representation of women and men, equitable geographical distribution as well as representation of the principle legal systems. Further, the rules must help ensure that judges with expertise on specific issues, in particular violence against women and children, are in place in accordance with article 36(8)(b) of the Rome Statute. We are aware that at the end of the 10th session, negotiations broke down over minimum voting requirements and the issue of abstention. We support rules that mandate minimum voting requirements for women and men as well as geographical balance. However, we view provisions that allow for abstention from minimum voting requirements and discontinuation of such requirements as undermining the process altogether. We hope that your delegation to the first meeting of the ICC Assembly of States Parties will actively participate in the resolution of these matters toward a satisfactory and non-discriminatory outcome that furthers the aims of the Rome Statute. Signed, [your name] ------------------ 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. ------------------------------------- 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. Women's Caucus for Gender Justice 33-53 Vernon Blvd. Suite 1 Long Island City, NY 11106 Tel: 718-626-2681 Fax: 718-626-3528 www.iccwomen.org caucus@iccwomen.org
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