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July 17 – Day of International Criminal Justice

 

On July 17, the international community commemorates the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998. In this regard, the Czech Republic wishes to express its support to the international criminal justice, especially to the rights of victims and the prevention of crimes which threaten peace and stability in the world. The Czech Republic represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs also joined the letter of the Informal Ministerial Network for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The International Criminal Court, operating from The Hague since 2002, investigates and tries individuals for the most serious crimes under international law, i.e. war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and in future also the crime of aggression, if states are unable or unwilling to conduct their own prosecutions (principle of complementarity).

The Rome Statute of the ICC has currently 123 State Parties. The Czech Republic became the 110th State Party to the Rome Statute on October 1, 2009. The Czech Republic also acceded to the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the ICC, which entered into force for the Czech Republic on June 3, 2011. During the past year the Czech Republic has completed the ratification process of the Kampala amendments to the Rome Statute and on March 12, 2015 deposited its instruments of acceptance.

The Czech Republic as a State Party to the Rome Statute considers the international criminal justice as means to promote respect for human rights, international humanitarian law, the rule of law and the principle of good governance. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively supports engagement of Czech judges at the international criminal tribunals. Ivana Hrdličková became in 2015 the president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, where she has acted as judge since 2013. Robert Fremr served as ad-litem judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and since 2012 he has been judge at the International Criminal Court.

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