Vol. 473 No. 2
31 Mr. R. Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs whether Ireland intends to participate fully in all preparatory meetings for the diplomatic conference on the Permanent International Criminal Court to be held in 1998. [24789/96]
It is my intention that Ireland will participate fully in all the meetings of the preparatory committee leading up to the 1998 diplomatic conference for the establishment of an international criminal court.
32 Mr. R. Burke asked the asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, in view of the importance of including developing countries in the preparatory process for the diplomatic conference and in view of the lack of participation from a large number of countries to date, whether the EU member states, including Ireland, will make an early commitment of resources to ensure the full participation of African states in the preparations for the conference in line with the recommendations of the draft resolution; and whether and the extent to which progress has been made on this issue under the auspices of Ireland's Presidency of the EU. [24790/96]
On Tuesday, 17 December 1996, at its fifty-first session, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution concerning the establishment of an international criminal court. In Operative Paragraph 7 of that resolution, the General Assembly requested the Sec-retary-General to establish a special fund to enable participation by the least developed countries in the work of the preparatory committee and the diplomatic conference leading up to the establishment of an international criminal court. In the same operative paragraph, the General Assembly called upon states to contribute voluntarily to the special fund.
