Madame President,
Distinguished delegates,
Estonia aligns itself with the statement made by the European Union and the joint statement delivered by Germany.
Estonia would like to thank the honourable judge Chile Eboe-Osuji for his presentation today and his dedicated work as the President of the International Criminal Court.
Madame President,
Allow me to commence by reiterating Estonia’s firm commitment to multilateralism, respect for and promotion of international law and rules based international order.
We acknowledge that the ICC plays a crucial role in the maintenance of a rules-and-values-based world order. We express our firm support to the role and mandate of the ICC to respond to atrocity crimes, fight impunity and ensure justice for the victims of the crimes enshrined in the Rome Statute.
Estonia further expresses its full confidence in the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution. We reiterate a call to all States to uphold and defend the principles and values enshrined in the Rome Statute and to preserve its integrity undeterred by any measures or threats against the Court.
We acknowledge that the reporting period was marked by important developments in the Court’s investigations and preliminary examinations as well as in judicial proceedings, as also indicated in the report. We would like to commend the management of the Court of its judicial activities despite the ongoing difficulties caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Madame President,
We would like to stress that it is the primary duty of States to prevent and respond to international crimes and stress that ICC complements, not replaces, national courts. The effectiveness and the efficiency of the ICC to fulfil its mandate inevitably depends on the cooperation of the States with the ICC.
In case an ICC suspect is not subject to domestic investigation or prosecution for the particular grave crimes alleged in the respective ICC warrants, and as the ICC warrants remain in force, all States need to fully engage and cooperate with the ICC for the arrest and surrender to the Hague of the remaining suspects. We call on all States and stakeholders to offer their full cooperation to the Court.
Within the framework of the current and ongoing review of the Court, we need to continue the efforts to strengthen the ICC and enhance its efficiency and effectiveness together with all State Parties to the Rome Statute, in cooperation with the ICC and other stakeholders. In this context, we welcome recent submission of the report of the Independent Experts Review and the discussions already begun about its follow up procedures.
We further stress the importance of the impartiality and independence of the ICC, its Judges and the Prosecutor. With regard to the upcoming elections of judges and the prosecutor, it is pertinent to remind ourselves that the quality of the judges and prosecutor ultimately plays an essential role in the quality of the decisions taken by the Court. Furthermore, these processes have to be transparent, merit-based and fair. This is the common responsibility of all States Parties to the Rome Statute.
Madame President,
The ICC plays an important role in delivering justice to victims. We also need to do more to offer important protection for victims and witnesses that have suffered from or witnessed crimes. We express our appreciation and support to the continued work of the Trust Fund for Victims in offering reparations for victims of the most serious crimes, their families and communities. As a regular donor, we encourage States and other donors to consider making voluntary contributions to the Victims’ Trust Fund.
Finally, we recognise that the total count of States Parties has risen to 123 and we would like to congratulate Kiribati for their accession to the Rome Statute during the reporting period. At the same time, the universal acceptance of the Rome Statute remains a challenge, and, therefore, we continue our call on all governments that have not yet ratified the Rome Statute to do so.
In closing, let me express Estonia’s steadfast, continued commitment to work together with all partners to further the work of the ICC and strengthen the system of international criminal justice.
Thank you.