New York/The Hague

Members of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), Members of the Parliament (MPs) of the Republic of Malawi, are calling on their Government to take all the necessary steps to comply with its obligations under International Law and implement the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Malawi’s national legal system through the “International Criminal Court Act 2012”. Malawi ratified the Rome Statute and became a State Party in 2002, but is still lacking the legislation on these most serious crimes of concern for the international community as a whole.

Selected Statements from PGA members in Malawi:

We, Parliamentarians, respectfully believe that the Republic of Malawi risks failing to fulfill its obligation as a State Party to the Rome Statute to cooperate with the International Criminal Court as long as the Republic of Malawi is lacking legislation that is implementing the material provisions of the Rome Statute of the ICC into national criminal law. The International Criminal Court Act 2012, that had been presented to the Honorable Attorney General, shall therefore implement the Rome Statute of the ICC into Malawi’s domestic legislation and prevent reoccurrence of violations of Malawi’s legal obligations under the Rome Statute due to the lack of implementing legislation. The Parliament is ready to mobilize itself on a bipartisan basis to ensure swift adoption of this legislation, which is based on the Commonwealth Model Law of 2011, which also received the expert-input of PGA. Adopting this legislation will further re-assure the International Community that Malawi will be ready to execute pending Arrest Warrants issued by the ICC. Hon. Godfrey Kamanya, MP, Malawi – Member of PGA

On behalf of Parliamentarians for Global Action, I join my colleagues in calling on my government to comply with its obligations under international law and towards the international community, and to fully implement the Rome Statute of the ICC into Malawi’s national legal system through the “International Criminal Court Act 2012”. Full implementation of the Rome Statute into our national legal system is needed to promote the fight against impunity and a culture of zero tolerance for perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Hon. Ephraim Kayembe, MP, Malawi – Member of PGA