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PGA’s vision is to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, sustainable and democratic world.

Italy and the Rome Statute

Rome Statute

Italy signed on 18 July 1998 and ratified on 26 July 1999 (adoption of Law No. 232), becoming the 4th State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Former PGA Member and Vice-President of the Senate Ersilia Salvato was the Rapporteur of the Ratification Bill.

As the host for the Rome Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries that gave birth to the ICC Statute, Italy played a key role in making the court a reality: 

Ratification of the Agreements on Immunities and Privileges

Italy signed the APIC on 10 September 2002 and ratified on 20 November 2006.

Kampala Amendments of 2010

Italy is currently actively working on the ratification of the amendments on the crime of aggression. Parliament must consider and authorize ratification in accordance with the Constitution, but the Executive did not yet transmit to Parliament the amendments. Read more here.

Status on the domestic implementation of the Rome Statute

On 4 December 2012, the Lower House of the Italian Parliament adopted a comprehensive law on cooperation with the ICC, just a week ahead of PGA’s 7th CAP-ICC held in Parliament in Rome. PGA Members from majority and opposition, led by Lapo Pistelli and Federica Mogherini in the Chamber of Deputies and Emma Bonino in the Senate, played an essential role in steering multi-party support and in prioritizing the treatment of the legislation. 

Italy must still incorporate crimes against humanity in national law, and include several types of war crimes in its outdated legislation, which is not satisfactorily aligned with the general principles of law contained in the Rome Statute. 

In previous legislatures, Bill. No. 2724 entitled “Rules for the adaptation of the internal legal order to the Statute of the International Criminal Court” was introduced on May 2002 by Sen. Kessler and other Members of Parliament. This included a law on cooperation with the ICC and the substantial implementation of the Rome Statute (complementarity). 
Two months later, on July 2002, a Senator from the opposition submitted Bill n. 1638 before the Senate on the same subject-matter.
Bills n. 6050 and n.3574 were further introduced before the Chamber and the Senate respectively.  They both included provisions on substantive criminal law and on cooperation. All these proposals of law contained grosso modo the same elements included as in Governmental proposal(s) drafted by a Commission of Experts previously established by the Ministry of Justice. In 2004, the PGA Italy Group chaired by Alessandro Forlani convened a Round-Table in the Library of the Senate to create bi-partizan support for this implementing legislation, but pressures from the Defense Ministry led to the severance of the Cooperation Bill from the ICC Implementing Legislation one.

Additional Agreements

Italy has not signed a Bilateral Immunity Agreement.

Progress and PGA Action

PGA held its 7th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law in Italy. For more information click here.

The PGA Italy National Group has taken numerous actions to promote the ratification and implementation of the RS (see above).

Relevant Documents and Events

Status of the Rome Statute System as of February 2024:

 
States that have ratified the Rome Statute [124]
 
States that have signed the Rome Statute but have not ratified it yet [30]
 
States that have withdrawn from the Rome Statute [2]
 
States that have neither signed nor ratified the Rome Statute
 

124 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Of these, 33 are African States, 19 are Asia-Pacific States, 19 are from Eastern Europe, 28 are from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western European and other States.

Work of PGA in this Country:

Italy and Sweden deposited their instruments of ratification of the Kampala Review Conference Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the crime of aggression and war crimes. As a result of this development, 43 States out of the 123 States Parties to the ICC Statute are now bound by these amendments.

Italy and Sweden Ratify the Kampala Amendments to the Rome Statute of the ICC on the Crime of Aggression and War Crimes

Leading Parliamentarians from Italy, Sweden and the European Parliament stress the importance of the fight against impunity for international crimes, including the aggressive use of force.

Italian Parliament authorises the Government to ratify the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression and War Crimes

Italian Parliament authorises the Government to ratify the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression and War Crimes

Italy will become the 42nd State to ratify the Kampala Amendments on the crime of aggression and war crimes.

Mr. Fabio Massimo Castaldo, MEP (Italy), EP Vice-President, PGA Member

PGA Convenes Members of the European Parliament to take Action to Confront “New Frontiers in the Fight Against Impunity”

On Wednesday, 2 October 2019, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their representatives gathered with members of civil society organizations to discuss the essential role of the EU in the fight against impunity.

The 10th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the International Criminal Court and the Rule of Law (CAP-ICC) and 40th Annual Forum of PGA took place 16-17 November 2018 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

10th CAP-ICC and 40th Annual Forum of PGA

Parliament of Ukraine in Kyiv, 16-17 November 2018.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted on 17 July 1998.

Conference on the Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Statute of the International Criminal Court

Contrary to the popular belief, the Rome Statute was effectively opened to the signatures by States on 18 July 1998, when the Final Act of the Rome Diplomatic Conference was signed.

The PGA Secretariat and the PGA membership of 1350 Parliamentarians from 142 countries around world are mourning the death of Professor Dr. M. Cherif Bassiouni, one of the greatest legal scholars of our time. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré.

PGA pays tribute to Prof. Cherif Bassiouni, a founding father of the International Criminal Court

PGA is saddened by the death of Professor Dr. M. Cherif Bassiouni, one of the greatest legal scholars of our time.

Mr. Hryhoriy Nemyria, MP (Ukraine), Chair of the Ukrainian PGA National Group

Chair of PGA Ukraine National Group hosts Roundtable on Rome Statute Implementation

The Roundtable was held on 19 December 2016 and hosted by Hon. Hryhoriy Nemyria, MP, Chair of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations of the Parliament of Ukraine

Panelists discuss Cooperation with the International Criminal Court

PGA’s participation in the experts’ hearing on Cooperation with the International Criminal Court: towards a concrete and expanded commitment

On 17-18 May 2016, upon invitation of International Law and Human Rights Co- Convenor, Sen. Alain Destexhe, the ICC President Judge Silvia Fernandez and PGA Secretary General participated in the experts’ hearing on Cooperation with the ICC

The public hearings of the ’Operation Condor’ Trial took place in the Aula Bunker of the High Court of Rome’s Penal Tribunal in Rebibbia.

Trial Observation in the ‘Operation Condor’ Trial on Crime against Humanity

On 9 and 10 July 2015, the Secretary-General of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), Dr. David Donat-Cattin, attended the public hearings of the ’Operation Condor’ Trial in the Aula Bunker of the High Court of Rome’s Penal Tribunal in Reb

On behalf of the PGA International Secretariat, Dr. David Donat Cattin expressed the profound gratitude of PGA to the Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber, Dr. Francesco Posteraro, the Diplomatic Advisor to the Speaker, Min. Alessandro Cortese.

President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies receives a PGA Delegation

On 24 February 2012, the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini welcomed a delegation of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) led by Executive Committee Member Dr. Felipe Michelini, MP (Uruguay), Convenor of the International Law

Publication

Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court
Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court

Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court

It is imperative that the Rome Statute be ratified universally for the successful functioning of the Court. Parliamentarians should ensure that the ICC is truly universal.

Description

Created by the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent and independent international court capable of investigating and bringing to justice individuals who commit the most serious violations of international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and human rights.

The Rome Statute defines the crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction and provides the general principles and procedures for the operation of the Court. It also outlines the cooperation obligations of its State Parties. It is imperative that the Rome Statute be ratified universally for the successful functioning of the Court. Parliamentarians should ensure that the ICC is truly universal.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Toolkit
  • Author(s): Parliamentarians for Global Action

Publication

Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Description

The ICC is the first and only permanent independent court with the mandate to investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for committing international crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Its 18 judges from around the world, elected for a nine-year term, play a key role in ensuring this expectation is lived up to through their primary mandate to render authoritative and high-quality jurisprudence and guarantee fair trials.

Therefore, the quality of the judges has fundamental importance to the performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of the ICC, which is at the heart of the long-term success of the ICC and the Rome Statute system as a whole. In this handbook, PGA sets forth specific criteria and recommendations for Parliamentarians to encourage their governments to improve national nomination procedures for ICC judicial candidates and adopt good practices and requirements to ensure these processes are fair, transparent, and merit-based. The goal of robust nomination procedures is to ensure that only candidate judges or jurists of the highest caliber make it on the ballot.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Handbook
  • Author(s): Parliamentarians for Global Action

Publication

Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Description

It is our honor and privilege to present to you the Third Edition of the Handbook on the Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

It is the product of our collaborative effort aimed at assisting States in ratifying the amendments adopted by consensus in Kampala and helping criminalize the most serious forms of the illegal use of force.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Handbook
  • Author(s): Permanent Mission of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations; Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression; Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University (LISD); (Drafting Assistance by PGA)