On February 10, 2016, the PGA President, Dip. Minou Tavarez Mirabal (Dominican Republic) addressed the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS) at its regular high-level session on the International Criminal Court.

Following the remarks form the Vice-Chair of the Committee, Ambassador Pedro Vergés, Permanent Representative of Dominican Republic to the OAS and the remarks by the Director of the Department of International Law, Dante Negro, the Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, James Stewart made a presentation on the ICC. He started by addressing the importance of the cooperation of the states with the ICC as well as the prominence of the complementarity principle for the functioning of the Court. Deputy Prosecutor also summarized the activities that his office is carrying on, including the investigations and preliminary investigations and finalized by thanking the OAS States Parties for the support that the ICC receive from them and encourage the representatives of those states to continue with such efforts.

After the intervention of several States, including from non-states parties such as the United States and a presentation by the ICRC, PGA president, Dip. Minerva Tavárez Mirabal reminded states of their obligation to cooperate with the International Criminal Court as the only way in which the ICC can fulfill its mandate. In this regard, she stressed the important role that parliamentarians have to play, especially by establishing cooperation mechanisms in their respective countries through the drafting and adoption of legislation to ensure full and effective cooperation with the Court. Dip. Mirabal exemplified this role by mentioning the work of PGA members in Costa Rica and Honduras where, after receiving technical assistance from PGA, a bill on cooperation was prepared and it is currently under discussion.

Dip. Mirabal, requesting the States present to make cooperation with the Court a priority in the political agenda, highlighted the great importance of the fulfillment of States Parties obligation to arrest and surrender those sought by the Court since otherwise justice cannot be served and the right of victims is neglected.

The issue of the discussions on Article 27 and 98 of the Rome Statute during the last Assembly of States Parties (ASP) in November 2015 was raised as an example on situations where the States should support the independence and integrity of the Court as well as respect the fact that the interpretation and application of the provisions of the Statute is the exclusive competence of the judges of the Court. In this regard, Dip. Mirabal applauded the initiatives taken by PGA members from several countries - including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay – who signed a statement urging their governments to respect and protect the independence and integrity Court in discussions to be held at the ASP and urged all government representatives present to join in that effort.

Dip. Minou Tavarez Mirabal reflected on the ways states could strengthen the ICC. On behalf of the 1,300 PGA members around the world, including most countries in the Americas, she called Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the United States to ratify the Rome Statute and welcomed the historic in the Parliament of El Salvador where ratification of the Rome Statute was approved in November 2015, as well as recalled states of their obligations to ensure the adoption of legislation to enable states to prosecute the most serious international crimes domestically. Diputada Tavarez Mirabal also requested all OAS members to ensure that the Court has the necessary resources to carry out its important role. Dip. Mirabal finalized by saying that the member countries of the OAS have a leading role in strengthening the Court and the defense of the principle of “Nunca Más” (never again).

The PGA president's presentation was followed by presentations from representatives of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Washington College of Law, American University and former PGA member, Felipe Michelini as member of the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court’s Trust Fund for the Benefit of Victims.