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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.

New Zealand and the Rome Statute

Government type:

Parliamentary republic

Objectives:

  • Ratification of Kampala Amendments

  • Signing of Voluntary agreements on cooperation with the ICC

Status

  • Rome Statute: Ratified on 07 September 2000

  • APIC: Ratified on 14 April 2004

  • Amendments to the RS: none

  • BNSA: none

  • Voluntary Agreements with the ICC: none

Status of Implementation of the Rome Statute

  • Complementarity - Enacted (ICC Act - 01 October 2000)

    • The Act incorporates the crimes contained in the Rome Statute (referring to the Rome Statute for the definition of the crimes). Request from A-G required to proceed with prosecutions

    • The ICC Act establishes universal jurisdiction over the core crimes contained in the Rome Statute, with the effect that proceedings may be brought in relation to conduct regardless of the location of the crime or the nationality of the offender. The person need not even be present in New Zealand when proceedings are initiated (although in absentia trials are not permitted under New Zealand law). Territorial and nationality jurisdiction are retained only for offences against the administration of justice.

    • It includes provision which enable the ICC to sit in New Zealand for the purpose of performing its functions under the Statute and under the Rules for the purpose of (a) taking evidence; or (b) conducting or continuing a proceeding; or (c) giving judgment in a proceeding; or (d) reviewing a sentence.

  • Cooperation - Enacted (ICC Act - 01 October 2000)

    • Central authority: Minister of Justice (for arrests and surrenders) or Attorney General (Art. 24 of the ICC Act and following)

    • The ICC Act creates a sui generis regime to govern cooperation with the ICC, rather than opting to rely on existing procedures. Whilst the ICC Act expressly states that the official capacity of a person is no bar to cooperation with the ICC, there is no similar provision to extend this to domestic proceedings. The fair trial standards found in the Rome Statute are not transferred into the ICC Act. The legislation explicitly allows for the facilitation of requests from defendants appearing before the ICC.

Activities of PGA Members

Mr Kennedy Graham, MP submitted a Private Member’s Bill on 26 June 2012 on International Non-Aggression and the Lawful Use of Force (Implementation of Amendment to the Statute of Rome) to ratify Kampala Amendments. The bill has been under ballot as of 20 December 2012. A 2013 Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee report recommended the government give priority to New Zealand becoming one of the 30 founding states needed to implement it. However, no further development has been made in this regard.


Parliamentary Action
Related Activities and Documents

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:

Former MPs Call for New Zealand to Make Aggression a Leadership Crime

Former MPs Call for New Zealand to Make Aggression a Leadership Crime

Former MPs propose a cross-party consensus within this 53rd Parliament to adopt legislation ratifying the 2010 Kampala Amendment to the 1998 Rome Statute that would make ‘aggression’ a crime in NZ domestic law.

17 July, Day of International Justice and 20th of the Rome Statute.

20th Anniversary of the Rome Statute: the need for universality and activation of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the crime of aggression

PGA co-sponsored a high-level ministerial event at the UN to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Rome Statute, International Justice Day, and the entry into force of the Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.

At the end of the Workshop, all participating MPs agreed on a Plan of Action, reflecting their fruitful discussions, and as a useful tool for follow-up action.

PGA Workshop on Enhancing Good Governance and the Rule of Law in the Pacific Islands

The Workshop saw the active participation of 18 legislators from the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, in addition to MPs from New Zealand and Sweden.

Legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam discussed prospects for increasing the participation of Asia in the ICC system.

Asian Parliamentarians Consultation on the Universality of the ICC

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), together with the Philippines Coalition for the ICC and the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), Asia and the Pacific organized an Asian Parliamentarians Consultation on the Universality of the International Criminal Cou

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)