Establishment of an International Criminal Court

A/RES/51/207View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 147 Establishment of an international criminal court, published in 1997.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 1995–1999

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/53/105

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
1999	A/RES/53/105	Establishment of an international criminal court	835	21%Compare
1998	A/RES/52/160	Establishment of an international criminal court	1,001	16%Compare
1997	A/RES/51/207	Establishment of an international criminal court	916	28%Compare
1995	A/RES/50/46	Establishment of an international criminal court	806	37%Compare
1995	A/RES/49/53	Establishment of an International Criminal Court	454	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 subjects

Conferences International Criminal Courts Work Organization

What’s in this document?

8 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court,⁶ including the recommendations contained therein, and expresses its appreciation to the Preparatory Committee for the useful work done and the progress made in fulfilling its mandate;

⁶Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 22 (A/51/22).

Takes note also of the various views of Governments expressed during the consideration of the report of the Preparatory Committee in the Sixth Committee during the fifty-first session of the General Assembly;

Decides to reaffirm the mandate of the Preparatory Committee, and directs it to proceed in accordance with paragraph 368 of its report;⁷

⁷Paragraph 368 of volume I of the report reads as follows: "The Preparatory Committee wishes to emphasize the usefulness of its discussions and the cooperative spirit in which the debates took place. In the light of the progress made and with an awareness of the commitment of the international community to the establishment of an international criminal court, the Preparatory Committee recommends that the General Assembly reaffirm the mandate of the Preparatory Committee and give the following directions to it: "(a) To meet three or four times up to a total of nine weeks before the diplomatic conference. To organize its work so that it will be finalized in April 1998 and so as to allow the widest possible participation of States. The work should be done in the form of open-ended working groups, concentrating on the negotiation of proposals with a view to producing a draft consolidated text of a convention to be submitted to the diplomatic conference. No simultaneous meetings of the working groups shall be held. The working methods should be fully transparent and should be by general agreement in order to secure the universality of the convention. Submission of reports on its debates will not be required. Interpretation and translation services will be available to the working groups; "(b) To deal with the following: (i) Definition and elements of crimes; (ii) Principles of criminal law and penalties; (iii) Organization of the Court; (iv) Procedures; (v) Complementarity and trigger mechanism; (vi) Cooperation with States; (vii) Establishment of the International Criminal Court and its relationship with the United Nations; (viii) Final clauses and financial matters; (ix) Other matters."

Decides also that the Preparatory Committee shall meet from 11 to 21 February, 4 to 15 August and 1 to 12 December 1997, and from 16 March to 3 April 1998, in order to complete the drafting of a widely acceptable consolidated text of a convention, to be submitted to the diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries, and requests the Secretary-General to provide the Preparatory Committee with the necessary facilities for the performance of its work;

Decides further that a diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries shall be held in 1998, with a view to finalizing and adopting a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court;

Urges participation in the Preparatory Committee by the largest number of States so as to promote universal support for an international criminal court;

Requests the Secretary-General to establish a special fund for the participation of the least developed countries in the work of the Preparatory Committee and in the diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries, and calls upon States to contribute voluntarily to that special fund;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second session the item entitled "Establishment of an international criminal court" in order to have the necessary arrangements made for the diplomatic conference of plenipotentiaries to be held in 1998, unless the General Assembly decides otherwise in view of relevant circumstances.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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What’s in this document?

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