The Future of the International Criminal Court

Abstract

In May 2006 the Austrian EU-Presidency, in cooperation with the Salzburg Law School on International Criminal Law organized an international conference on “The Future of the International Criminal Court.” The conference was seen as a timely starting point to discuss issues of importance for the 2009 Review Conference of the Rome Statute. Papers collected in the final report include analyses of the current practice of the court and its activities in the context of the strategic plan that should help in guiding the functioning of the court in the medium and long term; assessments of how the court may from past experience plan to address future challenges; comprehensive analyses of possibilities and perspectives to review the Rome Statute in order to improve its capacity to face present and future challenges, including ideas on specifying existing definitions contained in the Statute, on extending the number of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court, and on granting more procedural rights; and scenarios and options for the 2009 Review Conference and the role the Assembly of States Parties should play within the review process.