June 11-12, 2007 | The Hague, The Netherlands

The third session of PGA Working Group on the ICC in the Middle East and the Mediterranean countries was held at the Dutch Parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, June 11 and 12, 2007.

The meeting drew over 20 participants, including high level Members of the Parliaments (MPs) of Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanonand Morocco, as well as judges, experts on international law and human rights, and representatives of the civil society.

H.E. Judge Philippe Kirsch, President of the ICC, received the Working Group at the Court's Premises and responded to the questions of the MPs, in presence of Sen. Andreychuk (Canada). Amb. Wellenstein, Head of the ICC Task Force and Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and Judge van Oven, former PGA Member, welcomed the participants at the Dutch Parliament, where the challenges in each country that the promotion of the ICC dossier faces were exposed. During the final session, the Arab Legislators met with the standing Committee of Foreign Affairs.

The primary goal of the meeting was to strengthen parliamentary leadership on the ICC dossier and promote legislative initiatives and/or actions on the ICC in a well-informed environment. The second objective of the meeting was to facilitate discussion among legislators and experts to find solutions to overcome the obstacles to the accession/ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute in the participating countries.