Foreign Minister Tuomioja to The Hague and Paris

Press release 244/2013
21.11.2013

 Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja participates in the session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on 21 November and will attend the meeting of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris on 21–22 November.

The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court will hold its twelfth session in The Hague, The Netherlands from 20 to 28 November. The session will discuss, for example, the strengthening of the rights of victims, enhanced cooperation, and indictment of Heads of State and Government for the most serious international crimes; and decide on the adoption of the budget for 2014.

The Finnish delegation at the session is chaired by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. Minister Tuomioja, who gave Finland’s address, underscored that Finland will continue to provide strong support for the ICC. He emphasised that the support of African countries for the criminal court has also been of vital importance since the very establishment of the court, and it is important that provision of such support continues.

In his address, Tuomioja pointed out that, in accordance with the so-called principle of subsidiarity of the Rome Statute, states have the primary jurisdiction, and the ICC is only the secondary court of justice when the most serious international crimes are being investigated and prosecuted. Therefore, states and international organisations must enhance the capacity of individual states to process even the most serious international crimes.

During its first ten years of operation, the ICC has developed into the key international actor in the work against impunity and as developer of international criminal law. Through the ICC Trust Fund for Victims, more than 110,000 victims have already received concrete assistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Uganda. Reducing impunity with regard to the most serious international crimes is one of the priorities of Finnish foreign policy. Finland has been one of the active supporters of the ICC since the very beginning. Finland participated actively in the statute negotiations and ratified the statute of the criminal court without delay. Finland has been providing support for the ICC and its Trust Fund for Victims also via voluntary donations for various projects.

Foreign Minister Tuomioja will participate in the ECFR dinner meeting in Paris on 21–22 November. ECFR is a European think-tank, which brings together influential people from the fields of European policy, economic policy and international policy.

The theme of the ECFR dinner meeting is the future of the EU and its challenges. The opening speakers are Erkki Tuomioja and Jean-Claude Trichet.  In his opening address, Minister Tuomioja will outline the political future of the continent, and Jean-Claude Trichet will focus on issues relating to the economy and the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Additional information: Satu Suikkari-Kleven, Head of Unit for Public International Law, tel. +358 40 760 3578; and Tarja Kantola, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 40 590 4119