New York/The Hague/Prague, 24 March 2015: Parliamentarians around the world celebrate the acceptance by the Czech Republic of both Kampala Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 13 March and the Swiss Federal Assembly unanimous approval of the ratification of the Kampala Amendments on 20 March. Through the approval of the amendments, the Czech Republic and Switzerland have decided to bind their nationals and their territory to the prohibition of the use of certain weapons in armed conflicts not of an international character, as well as to the criminalization of acts of aggression arising from the most serious forms of illegal use of force under international law.
This brings the number of ratifying states to twenty-three (23). Indeed, twenty-two (22) other nations from all regions of the world have ratified both Amendments to date – Liechtenstein, Samoa, Trinidad & Tobago, Luxembourg, Estonia, Germany, Botswana, Cyprus, Slovenia, Andorra, Uruguay, Belgium, Croatia, Slovakia, Austria, Latvia, Spain, Poland, San Marino, Georgia, Malta and most recently, Costa Rica.
The Czech Republic and Switzerland have made an important contribution towards the goal of achieving the 30 ratifications needed by 2017, which together with a positive decision by the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), will activate the jurisdiction of the ICC over the crime of aggression.
Having signed the Rome Statute on 13 April 1999, on 21 July 2009, the Czech Republic deposited its instrument of ratification to the Rome Statute, becoming the 110th state to join the International Criminal Court. In November 2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already announced the launch of the ratification process, which had previously been interrupted by the internal political situation.
As for Switzerland, ratification of the Kampala Amendments had previously been recommended by both the upper and the lower chambers of the Federal Assembly on 27 November 2014 and 9 March 2015, respectively. Switzerland signed the Rome Statute on 18 July 1998 and ratified it on 12 October 2001, becoming the 43rd State Party.
From The Hague, I welcome Czech Republic’s and the Swiss’ approval of the Kampala Amendments. This essential stepcontributes to ensuring the activation of the jurisdiction of the ICC over the crime of aggression and to securing the strengthening the universality of the Rome Statute. By doing so, the Czech Republicand the Swiss parliament invite other States to take the initiative and follow its example. As a Parliamentarians from The Netherlands, host country of the ICC, I trust that this important step will inspire my country to ratify both Kampala Amendments, becoming also an important actor in this Campaign against impunity. Harry van Bommel, MP (The Netherlands)
By approving the Kampala Amendments, the Czech Republic and Switzerland certainly highlight the relevance of the role of the ICC and the need to expand its jurisdiction and reaffirms the notion that the crime of aggression shall not be subject to any form of impunity. It is my conviction that these provisions will have a deterrence effect, therefore I wholeheartedly congratulate the Czech Republic and Switzerland for taking part in this important campaign to prevent the Crime of Aggression. I believe that by the criminalization of aggression, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, together with the other states that have ratified the Kampala Amendments, send a clear message encouraging other States to follow their steps. Sen. Alain Destexhe (Belgium), Co-convenor, International Law and Human Rights
It is a great pleasure to welcome the Czech Republic’s and Switzerland’s approval of both Kampala amendments. States who have not ratified these amendments to date, shall follow the Czech Republic’s and Switzerland’s examples and recognize the importance of criminalizing the use of certain weapons and of acts of aggression arising from the illegal use of force in international relations. The ratification of the Kampala Amendments is conducive to building a fully efficient ICC system able to protect all the victims of the most serious international crimes. Barbara Lochbihler, MEP (Germany)