January 9-10, 2014 | The Hague, The Netherlands

From 9-10 January, 2014, PGA facilitated the Visit by a High Level Parliamentary Delegation from Jamaica to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Delegation was comprised of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade,  Arnaldo Brown MP as well as Denise Daley MP and Senator Sophia Frasier-Binns.

The primary objective of this Visit was to enable the Delegation to meet first hand with senior officials of the Court, including the President and Deputy Prosecutor, in order to broaden their understanding of the terms of reference of the ICC and its everyday functions and operations.

A secondary objective was for the Delegation to share with the Court the status quo on ratification by Jamaica of the Rome Statute which it signed in September 2000.

This Visit followed on a visit by a small Delegation from PGA to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Kingston in May 2012 and, thereafter, the participation by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in the 7th Session of PGA’s Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians (CAP) on the ICC and Rule of Law in Rome in December 2012.

On several occasions during their different appointments/meetings at the ICC, the Jamaican Delegation underscored that the Government of Jamaica remains fully committed to ratification of the Rome State in a short period of time.

The Minister for State noted that obstacles regarding same were purely procedural, not substantive, in particular the current, heavy legislative workload of the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel.

Notwithstanding this state of affairs, and mindful of the continuing importance that Jamaica attaches to its active participation in international relations and the fact that it is only one of three CARICOM countries that has not yet ratified the Rome Statute, the Minister indicated that ratification remained a priority of the Jamaican Government.

The Minister also signaled that he would recommend to the Government of Jamaica that it issue a formal invitation to the President of the ICC to visit Jamaica in the near future, to provide the President with an opportunity to provide additional information and reassurances concerning the ICC to the Government and People of Jamaica.

The Minister also invited PGA to provide technical assistance in the form of draft legislation which could help to expedite the work of the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel.

For further information on this event, please contact Director of Projects, Mr. Peter Barcroft at Peter.Barcroft@pgaction.org