Wellington, New Zealand, 2004
The third Session of the Consultative Assembly took place in the Asia-Pacific region and was hosted by Hon. Harry Duynhoven, MP (New Zealand), Minister of Transport Safety and Chair, PGA National Group, along with Hon. Ross Robertson, MP (New Zealand) Assistant Speaker and Chair, International Council and Dr. Wayne Mapp, MP (New Zealand).
More than 120 MPs gathered from all regions of the world in Wellington, New Zealand, from 6-7 December, 2004, to consider and discuss strategies to expand the universality of the Court, with a special focus on the under-represented regions within the "ICC system", namely Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East-North Africa.
The conclusions of the session are contained in the Wellington Resolution on the ICC, Multilateralism and International Cooperation, which also establishes three Working Groups of the Assembly to better focus PGA Parliamentary initiatives on key issues such as:
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Universality and integrity of the Rome Statute, with a special focus on ratification/accession in under-represented regions in the ICC system (Asia, the CIS and the Middle East/North Africa);
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Implementing legislation and the principle of complementarity, including in States that are not yet parties to the Statute;
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Financing the "ICC system" and providing means and resources to promote the rule of law, protect the civilian population and victims' rights, as well as combat impunity.
The III Session of the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law was supported by the European Commission (EU), the Government of New Zealand, the Government of the Netherlands and the Government of Switzerland.