Statement by Ambassador Inomata at the 15th session of the ASP of the ICC (General Debate)

2016/12/7
7 December 2016


From 16 to 24 November 2016, the fifteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) took place at the World Forum Convention Center in The Hague. Ambassador Inomata made a statement on behalf of Japan at the “General Debate” session as follows.
 
  1. Japan’s core policy towards the Court is to enable it to function effectively and sustainably with the support and trust of the international community.  Japan is proud to be one of the major financial contributors to this permanent international tribunal.  We are also dedicated to supporting the Court through capable human resources, including judges, and became the first State Party to participate in the ICC Junior Professional Officers programme this year. 
  2. Japan believes that the ICC has made steady progress in the judicial field.  This year, the Court delivered verdicts on two cases of Central African Republic and Mali respectively, which represent the Court’s efforts for efficient and expeditious judicial proceedings and we welcome the launch of policy papers by the Office of the Prosecutor providing guidelines and greater clarity on case selection and prioritization as well as the positive outcomes of the ReVision Project that resulted in a more streamlined Registry.  Given the increasing workload of the Court, it is all the more important to pursue further efficiency in the use of its financial and human resources to deliver on its mission effectively. 
  3. To ensure that the ICC effectively promotes the rule of law over the world, Japan strongly believes that the ICC should aim at becoming a truly universal criminal court so that it can gain strong support for its work.  In this regard, we are worried about recent decisions taken by some African States Parties to withdraw from the ICC.  In order to gain support and cooperation from a greater number of States towards its activities, the ICC and its States Parties should listen to the concerns expressed by each individual country and make efforts to enhance its universality.  Japan spares no effort for that purpose and intends to remain engaged in dialogues with each of these States Parties.
  4. Ambassador Inomata announced that the Government of Japan, following its contributions in the previous years, will make a contribution of 46,978 euros to the TFV this year for its activities to support the victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
  
   Please find original text on the ASP’s web page;
   https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/ASP15/GenDeba/ICC-ASP15-GenDeba-Japan-ENG.pdf

 

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