Latvia signed the Rome Statute on 22 April 1999, and ratified on 28 June 2002, becoming the 74th State Party.
Mobilizing Legislators as Champions for
Human Rights, Democracy, and a Sustainable World
Mobilizing Legislators as Champions for
Human Rights, Democracy, and a Sustainable World
Latvia signed the Rome Statute on 22 April 1999, and ratified on 28 June 2002, becoming the 74th State Party.
Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania Slovenia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom call for the creation of an International Crimi
Parliamentarians around the world celebrate the ratification of the Kampala Amendments of the crime of aggression of the International Criminal Court by Spain, Latvia and Poland. This brings the number of ratifying states to 18.
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.
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.
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.
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.
