On the anniversary of the Treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), No Peace Without Justice and the Radical Party are organising a panel discussion to be held on Tuesday, July 17, from 14:00 to 16:00 at the Nasiriyah room of the Italian Senate.

 

It will be an opportunity, not only to celebrate a historical date for international criminal justice, but above all to report on the status of a bill, which is currently blocked by the Senate Judiciary  Committee, that would adapt the Rome Statute to Italian legislation.

 

The bill was presented in the Chamber of Deputies three years ago, in May of 2009, and has been locked in an endless back and forth between the two houses of parliament. We now believe that the Italian government, having no further excuses nor justifications, must rectify the matter without  further delay.

 

It has been 14 years since the Diplomatic Conference held in Rome established the International Criminal Court, and it took 10 years to  obtain the necessary ratifications for the ICC to enter into force. Italy is one of the countries that invested the most in diplomatic efforts to make all of this possible. It was one of the first countries to ratify the Rome Statute but, to date, it has not yet ratified its own legal system.

 

This remarkable delay prevents Italian national courts and authorities from cooperating with the Court in its investigative and judicial activities, and it puts Italy in a situation of flagrant breach, vis-à-vis international obligations, thereby making the country a potential haven for perpetrators of the most heinous crimes against humanity.

 

For instance, should current Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, for whom the Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, find himself on our national territory, Italian courts would have no legal instrument for issuing an arrest. Italy’s complicity to make impunity prevail over justice would thus be undeniable.

 

 

 

14h00 Opening address by Vice-President of the Senate, Emma Bonino

14h05 Sergio Augusto Stanzani Ghedini, President of No Peace Without Justice and the Radical Party

14h10 Demba Traoré, Secretary of the Radical Party

 

 

Moderator: Marco Perduca, Senator (Radicals-PD), Vice President of the Senate of the Radical Party and Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)-Italy

 

Speakers:

Rita Bernardini, MP (Radicals-PD), a member of the Judiciary Committee

Felice Casson, Senator, Group Vice President of the Democratic Party, member of the Judiciary Committee

Barbara Contini, Senator (API-FLI), member of the Foreign Affairs Committee

Staffan de Mistura, Secretary for Foreign Affairs

Lamberto Dini, President of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Laura Allegrini, Senator (PDL), rapporteur of the bill on cooperation with the ICC, the Justice Committee

Lapo Pistelli, MP (PD), member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman, Organizing Committee of the Parliamentary Consultative on International Criminal Court and the rule of law, Rome, 2012

 

 

Moderated by: Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, Secretary of No Peace Without Justice

 

Silvana Arbia, Magistrate, Registrar of the International Criminal Court

Francesco Rutelli, Senator (API-FLI), former mayor of Rome

Giovanni Battista Conso, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court, former Minister of Justice

Mauro Politi, Magistrate, former judge of the International Criminal Court

Cuno Tarfusser Jacob, Magistrate, judge of the International Criminal Court

David Donat Cattin, Legal Advisor, Senior Director, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)

 

15h40 Conclusions: Marco Pannella

 

To access the premises of the Senate, men are required to wear suit and tie.