Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the global pandemic, PGA has closed our offices in New York and The Hague, with the Secretariat working from home and making significant effort to continue work on our Campaigns, including our Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC [please see our full statement on the coronavirus].

Prior to the introduction of restrictions on travel and movement, PGA conducted several important activities through mid-March 2020, including two critical visits to the ICC and international institutions in The Hague by Moroccan and Zimbabwean legislators, which contributed to advancing their countries’ path to ratification of the Rome Statute. PGA also conducted two field missions to promote ratification and adoption of complementarity legislation in Ukraine and to advocate for the introduction and formalization of non-withdrawal policies in South Africa. [See PGA’s Calendar of Past and Planned Activities for 2020].

Moreover, PGA’s core function of provision of technical assistance to our members continues unabated. Our Secretariat provided expert support to members in Panama currently revising the National Criminal Code to include the crimes and principles of the Rome Statute. We will also shortly debut an updated database compiling information on the status of implementation legislation worldwide. Our advocacy activities also remain undiminished. In April, PGA joined more than 100 civil society organizations (CSOs) in a public call to States Parties to the Rome Statute to demonstrate support for an independent ICC and for impartial international justice in the face of attacks by powerful Non-States Parties.

Finally, while enhancing the integrity, independence, and effectiveness of the system set-up by the Rome Statute has always been a core area of PGA’s work, this priority renewed relevance in light of the increased criticisms of the Court, and the responsive efforts at reform, including the ongoing independent expert review process discussed below. While PGA and its global membership stand together with like-minded States Parties to denounce attacks on the Court, they also work to ensure that criticisms are unfounded in the ICC’s principles and practice.

Looking ahead, PGA anticipates resuming our planned campaign activities as possible and prudent in various regions. PGA’s updated activity calendar reflects activities that have been postponed due to the current global climate.

The PGA Board is currently considering whether to proceed with our 42nd Annual Forum and 11th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the International Criminal Court (CAP-ICC) in November 2020, which the Congress of Argentina in Buenos Aires generously offered to host before the Coronavirus outbreak in the Americas.

We are also considering alternative dates, or even an alternative venue should postponement be impracticable, depending on the status of the Pandemic in Argentina and the rest of the world. The 11th CAP-ICC will offer a unique opportunity for PGA members and partners, as well as concerned Parliamentarians, to discuss crucial issues for the future of the fight against impunity, including urgent reforms to be launched at the national and international levels. Until then, we hope you stay safe and well, and commend you on your ongoing commitment to fight impunity even as the world grapples to face this crisis.

As PGA has tracked in our continually expanding Coronavirus Resource Center for Parliamentarians, the COVID-19 crisis has profound effects for the fight against impunity. Judicial systems around the globe struggle to maintain their necessary functions during the pandemic, individuals convicted of international crimes have been controversially released by some jurisdictions, and court monitors face challenges in safeguarding human rights and ensuring due process [see the International Commission of Jurists’ (ICJ’s) Guidance on the Courts and COVID-19]. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence has cautioned that “urgent measures to protect against COVID-19 in overcrowded jails should not lead to impunity for persons convicted in many countries for serious violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, genocide, or war crimes . . . Measures such as amnesties, pardons, exemptions from criminal liability, and benefits in the enforcement of sentences are null and void, and have no legal effect.”

The International Criminal Court continues to operate, albeit in modified and limited functionality, adapting to new routines in an effort to contain the virus and adjusting its operation engagement in the interest of its staff, partners, and victims, inter alia. Since COVID-19 measures were put in place in The Netherlands on 15 March 2020, travel between and within countries has been severely restricted in response to the pandemic Consequently, all the Court’s missions have been suspended until further notice and, only those missions deemed essential can be undertaken with the approval of the Crisis Management Team (“CMT”) and Head of Organ.

Daily meetings between the different teams and organs across the Court are now held electronically. It is expected that some submissions of filings in ongoing cases may require extension. Hearings may also suffer significant delays. While the Court may start contemplating virtual hearings, it has not yet done so, and these forms of proceedings may also give rise to other concerns such as fair trial considerations, privacy and confidentiality, and logistical and operational issues. The COVID-19 measures adopted by the Court and the Government of The Netherlands as of 16 March 2020 include the total suspension of all the visits to the Court’s Detention Center, including privileged visits. Actions are being taken to mitigate the potential nugatory effects on defendants’ ability to reach their legal defense teams, including facilitating communication with counsel via telephone or videoconference; however, the longer the protraction of these measures, the more serious the threats to defendants’ rights.

As a result of the closure of the Court’s premises from 17 March 2020 onwards, The Hague-based staff of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) involved in the Bosco Ntaganda case were required to work from home. Given these circumstances, on 9 April 2020, Judge Chang-ho Chung, acting as single judge on behalf of the Trial Chamber VI, issued an order requesting the Legal Representatives of Victims (LRVs), the Defense, the Registry, the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), to provide information to the Chamber on the Impact of COVID-19 measures on operation capacity in the case.

Despite these challenges, the crisis has underscored the ICC’s vital importance, as the pandemic has severely affected vulnerable populations, including individuals already at-risk of victimization through the crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction. Looking ahead, the ICC will have an integral role to play in ensuring accountability for atrocity crimes perpetrated during the pandemic.

Even as the ICC adapts and adjusts in light of the pandemic, a vital and unprecedented effort is underway to review the Court’s functioning in the nearly 18 years since it became operational in 2003. This process presents a unique opportunity to evaluate lessons learned from the ICC’s work to date and contribute to its ongoing evolution. Particularly in its role as a member of the Steering Committee for the Coalition of the International Criminal Court (CICC), PGA has been closely engaged with the initiative to date since the 2018 events marking the 20th anniversary of the Rome Statute’s adoption. However, as the process may not be widely known outside of The Hague and New York, we take this opportunity to update our membership and partners on the IER.

In nearly two decades of activities, numerous challenges and lessons learned have manifested. To enable the Court to continue to fulfill its essential mandate to provide justice for all in the most effective, impartial, and efficient manner, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) initiated the IER process at its 18th session to identify various ways to strengthen the Court’s system, policies, and practice. Through the IER, a team of nine independent experts are undertaking an in-depth assessment of the Court’s functioning to generate concrete recommendations in three main issue clusters: Governance, the Judiciary, and Investigations and Prosecutions.

The Group of Independent Experts invited civil society groups and other stakeholders to present  submissions regarding the review process of the Court and several organizations transmitted detailed reports with specific recommendations for reforming and strengthening the ICC. For example, with regard to investigations and prosecutions, the Court has faced criticism due to allegations of perceived bias with regard to selection and prioritization of situations, and, above all, to the very limited number of cases that it managed to produce. To ensure that the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is equipped to confront potential criticism on these grounds and achieve individual criminal responsibility to those most powerful, PGA’s partners at Human Rights Watch have recommended that the Group of Experts assess factors that affect the ability of the OTP to put forward the strongest possible cases, and identify those steps that the OTP could or should take to deepen the office country’s knowledge and presence of investigators, including potentially establishing country offices at investigations’ outset and developing country-specific strategies to maximize local engagement with affected communities and assess the communities’ satisfaction with proceedings, low rate of convictions, slow pace of investigations, and opacity of selection and prioritization of cases.

The International Bar Association (IBA) has emphasized measures to enhance the perception and reality of fair trials at the ICC, including improving equality of arms and defendants’ rights throughout the legal process. Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice (WIGJ) has offered several recommendations focused on how the ICC can enhance its sensitivity to the gender dimensions of international law, including developing gender-responsive strategies and creating internal learning opportunities within in all Court organs, establishing a Court-wide Gender Focal Point and a Senior Legal Advisor Position within the Trial Division to provide expertise on sexual and gender-based crimes, proactively tackling gender imbalance within the Court by following the UN System-Wide Strategy on Gender Parity and prioritizing gender awareness in recruitment.

To enhance the quality of judicial nominations for the Court and help ensure that individuals are put forward based on merit and experience rather than political considerations, PGA was the only NGO to draft a resolution calling on States to issue Public Calls for Nominations of qualified candidates, based on pre-established, merit-based criteria. PGA will continue to advocate with individual states to voluntarily adopt such practices, as the period for nominations has been repeatedly extended.

These concrete recommendations illustrate how the IER offers a unique opportunity to improve the overall performance of the Court and its organs, which in turn should stimulate States to do more through their domestic jurisdiction to fight impunity. While external attacks on the Court will certainly continue, those inside and outside the ICC should continue working hand-by-hand to succeed in providing justice for the gravest crimes. Engagement in the IER process can help shape the future of the Court and of international criminal law. We encourage all our members from States Parties to the Rome Statute to help strengthen the only permanent Court dedicated to provide justice for all humanity. Please contact our Secretariat for more information on how you can directly contribute to the future of the ICC.

This piece originally on PGA’s website in expanded form on 20 April 2020. For more information on Dr. Michelini’s life and legacy, please refer to the original version.

On 19 April 2020, Dr. Felipe Michelini passed away in his hometown Montevideo, Uruguay, due to complications following a tragic domestic accident that occurred on 7 April.

Felipe Michelini was an extraordinary human rights advocate, a leader in Uruguay and within the International Community, and an incredibly generous and enlightened scholar and politician, who will be missed by all those who had the privilege to work with him. Felipe’s unique leadership style sought to empower his colleagues and peers, embodying them with trust and optimism, which resulted in multiplied teams of motivated individuals whose efforts –more often than not– succeeded in reaching a common goal, always related to justice, accountability and truth.

Dr. Michelini was an invaluable support of Parliamentarians for Global Action and the most instrumental and credible voice of the last two decades in the critical campaign to put any end to impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern.

His sudden loss, in the midst of many important projects, is depriving Uruguay and the world community of a uniquely powerful and persuasive voice in support of victims. But his example, and not his absence, should determine the outcome of his long-term life projects, and those of us who worked with him shall carry forward with determination.

Felipe Michelini was “a giant of his times”, but he did not need to act like it. His humble and calm approach to problems was, in and of itself, the best guidance provided to those who wanted to solve them. His ideas and actions were always informed by a sense of humanity, empathy and generosity that will never be forgotten. Our thoughts and permanent solidarity go to his wife Matilde, his son Nacho, his sister Cecilia, who leads the Fundación Zelmar Michelini, and all his brothers and sisters, who have lost an extraordinary husband, father and brother. Felipe will be forever missed and he will remain always in our hearts.