Deputy Minister Smolek in his speech stated that the State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court are under a legal obligation to fully cooperate with the Court. “Since the Court relies entirely on national law enforcement systems to give effect to its orders, the States Parties to the Rome Statute need to take appropriate measures at national level to provide the basis for effective cooperation with the Court and avoid cases of non-cooperation.” In this respect, Deputy Minister Smolek highlighted the Czech national implementing legislation on cooperation, namely the Act on International Judicial Cooperation.

Deputy Minister Smolek also reminded that in 2015 the Czech Republic has ratified the Kampala Amendments to the Rome Statute. Thereof, the Czech Republic has implemented all the crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the Czech Criminal Code, including the new definition of the crime of aggression. Some elements of crimes under the Rome Statute (war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression) have even broader definition in the Criminal Code than in the Rome Statute, i.a. the crime of genocide.

The first seminar for Eastern European States gathered participants from 20 countries along with Court´s officials and representatives of the OSCE and the Council of Europe. It aimed at increasing the cooperation with the International Criminal Court by enhancing knowledge about the cooperation regime established by the Rome Statute. The two-day event covered a number of topics, including witness protection, State cooperation during investigations, national capacity building, various types of voluntary agreements, implementing legislation, as well as the benefits of joining the Rome Statute system.