The government of Cyprus believes that the established international legal order must not be eroded through any decision that could undermine it.
Cyprus’ Permanent Representative to the UN Andreas Mavroyiannis has stressed the importance of avoiding any decisions that might in any way be construed as, or amount to, either an erosion of the established international legal order, particularly as reflected in the UN Charter, or have an adverse impact on the effective exercise of jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court vis- a -vis this crime.
Speaking during the General Debate of the sixth session of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute, in New York, Mavroyiannis said that if the International Criminal Court is to fulfill the purpose for which it was created, fighting impunity and serving as a strong deterrent to prospective serious crimes as a result of its robustness and far-reaching support, “we must insist on the goal of universal ratification of its Statute, regardless of how long that might take.â€
“The ICC would not be a viable project if it were not for the support and cooperation towards it, by the UN and by states, particularly state parties. It is crucial for us, the states parties, to help ensure that the Court has available to it all the means that it requires to maintain the highest judicial standards in its work and to make the judicial process feasible through cooperation in executing arrest warrants to cooperation in the incarceration of convicted persons,†he added.
Mavroyiannis noted that it would be very helpful if the Court guided states with respect to specific areas of cooperation, so that the assistance that each state party is able to afford adds up to cover the needs of the Court at any one time.
“Another issue of great importance, especially in view of the nearing review conference in 2010, is for us to enable the ICC to exercise its jurisdiction over all the crimes covered by the Rome Statute. We support the inclusion of a concept as serious as aggression in international criminal jurisdiction in general and in the jurisdiction of the ICC, in particular,†he added.
“Nevertheless, we recognize the importance of approaching the chapter of aggression with utmost caution and doing justice to its complexity. The deep historical roots in the legal examination of aggression cannot be excluded from our consideration. At the same time, we cannot continue to have a vacuum of criminal accountability vis-a-vis aggression, and especially by a permanent Court that adjudicates crimes of the most serious nature,†Mavroyiannis said.
