FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 11, 2003

(Ottawa) – Canada’s Philippe Kirsch has just been elected President of the newly established International Criminal Court (ICC).

Kirsch and the seventeen other ICC judges were sworn in earlier today at an inaugural ceremony at The Hague. His colleagues on the ICC Bench then immediately elected him to serve as the Court’s first President.

Kirsch chaired the 1998 UN conference where the ICC treaty was negotiated, as well as the follow up Preparatory Commission, which developed the Court’s Rules of Procedure.

Fergus Watt, Executive Director of the World Federalists of Canada, has monitored the Court’s creation for seven years. “Philippe Kirsch’s experience makes him uniquely qualified to play a leading role on the ICC bench. Firstly, he knows the Statute thoroughly. Having chaired the negotiations, helping forge a complex consensus, he knows why the ICC law is written the way it is. Secondly, as Chair of the UN Preparatory Commission for the last three years, he has been the point person for states parties, deflecting U.S. criticism of the ICC. He is well aware of the political pressures that will be an inevitable part of the ICC’s early years. It’s this combination of legal knowledge and his political acuity which qualify him to serve as ICC President.”

The ICC will bring to trial individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. The court’s supporters hail it as the biggest advance in international justice since the founding of the U.N. 89 states have ratified the treaty.

However, the Bush administration opposes establishment of the court. The U.S. has renounced the ICC treaty and signed bilateral agreements with 22 countries, which, if implemented, would grant U.S. citizens immunity from the court's authority.

With the upcoming election of the ICC Prosecutor, expected April 21-23, and the Court Registrar shortly thereafter, the ICC should by mid-year be ready to begin addressing the more than 200 referrals it has reportedly received.

For more information:
Fergus Watt, World Federalists of Canada (613) 232-0647
William Pace, Coalition for the ICC (212) 687-2176 (www.iccnow.org)