Seminar on the establishment of the International Criminal Court on 23 February 2000
A seminar on the Establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be organised on Wednesday, 23 February, 2000, from 9.00 until 13.00 at the auditorium of the Finnish Parliament House in Helsinki in cooperation with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
The seminar addresses the establishment process of the International Criminal Court and the current ratification situation, as well as the relations between the ICC and the ad hoc criminal tribunals of the UN. One of the focuses of the seminar is a presentation of the timetable for ratifying the ICC Statute. Also the Baltic states´ viewpoint about the ICC will be presented.
The seminar is composed of lectures and a panel discussion about the future challenges of the ICC. The lead speakers in the discussion are Finnish and foreign experts who have been involved in the different phases of the establishment of the ICC. Participants include Ms Tarja Halonen, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Märt Rask, Estonian Minister of Justice, Ms Helen Duffy, Counsel, Human Rights Watch, and Canadian Ambassador to Sweden, Mr Philippe Kirsch. The seminar is chaired by Ms Liisa Jaakonsaari, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The seminar is targeted at authorities and members of parliament in Finland and the Baltic States, representatives of national and international non-governmental organisations and representatives of the media. The working languages of the seminar are English and Finnish. The seminar is free of charge to the participants.