Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 21 Feb 2002

Vol. 549 No. 2

Written Answers. - International Criminal Court.

Jim O'Keeffe

Ceist:

45 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether Ireland is in default in ratifying the Rome Statute to establish the International Criminal Court; the reason necessary legislation and administrative procedures have not been put in place since signature of the agreement in 1998; the legislative and administrative obstacles which need to be dealt with before ratification; and the timetable for the completion of the necessary ratification measures. [5972/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 1244 of 30 January 2002 in which I indicated that a detailed examination of the Rome Statute is currently taking place in my Department in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General's office so as to determine the precise nature and scope of the legal and administrative measures which will need to be taken so that we can fulfil our obligations under the statute.

While the Rome Statute was adopted by the UN on 17 July 1998 and signed by Ireland on 7 October 1998, it was not until June 2000 that preparatory measures were agreed to ensure the coming into operation of the court. These measures, which will be adopted by the State parties when the statute comes into force include,inter alia, Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Court and Elements of Crimes to be considered by the court. These proposals will impact on the operation of the Rome Statute and the manner in which implementing legislation might be prepared. Once these measures were agreed and while not prejudicing the outcome of the constitutional referendum on this matter, preparatory work commenced in my Department on implementing legislation in advance of the constitutional referendum. However, progress on this work was considerably affected by the events in the United States on 11 September last and the need to tackle other urgent international legislative initiatives as a result of that atrocity.

In spite of these other urgent priorities, substantial progress has now been made in preparing what will amount to extensive legislative proposals and I expect to be in position to have these proposals ready for submission to Government relatively soon. Once the legislation is prepared and following enactment, the remaining ratification requirements will be a matter for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and in this regard, I refer the Deputy to that Minister's reply to the House of 7 February 2002, Parliamentary Question No. 45.

The Deputy will recall that the Bill enacting the constitutional change has yet to be signed by the President as a referendum petition concerning prisoners' voting rights is under appeal to the Supreme Court. I understand the appeal, which was due to be heard last week, will not now be heard until next month.