Jordan’s ongoing commitment to the International Criminal Court

Whilst the formal establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) took place in 1998, its genesis has been long and complex, spanning more than five decades. 

The establishment of the ICC completes the deficient link in International Law by institutionalising the state of universal consciousness resisting oppression and heinous crimes, putting an end to evasion from punishment by imposing strict penalties on the most dangerous criminal perpetrators, in addition to providing a compensatory redress for the victims of these atrocities and their families. However, this cannot be achieved efficiently unless the court achieves greater geographical representation and universality thereafter. 

So far, there are 123 countries that have acceded to the court’s statute and regulations, and the Arab world is underrepresented at the ICC. However, Jordan was one of the first sixty countries to ratify the Rome Statute and the first Arab country to do so. Jordan’s ratification of the Statute on April 11, 2002 has given it the deserved membership in the Assembly of States Parties with the election of HRH Prince Zeid Bin Ra'ad as the first president of the assembly for a period of three years. Additionally, Jordan was actively involved in the Trust Fund for Victims, and through chairing conferences on the crime of aggression, and is a member of “the Like-Minded Group” and its successor, the group “Friends of the Court”, which is a conglomeration consisting of a number of key player states to the ICC that had a main role in the success of the 1998 Rome Conference and subsequent establishment of the court. At the regional level, Jordan has assisted other Arab delegations to accept the definition of crimes of expulsion and forcible transfer of settlers as “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”, as set out in the court basic regulation. Such efforts have contributed to a further thirteen Arab state signatories to the ICC statute.

When Prince Zeid Bin Ra'ad (former president of the Assembly of States Parties) chaired the inaugural session of the ICC in The Netherlands on 11 March 2003, he stressed the importance of the ICC as a guardian of international justice. He worked to realise a more significant ICC role in the Middle East; his role has been recognised by international scholars and diplomats. While the international community seeks to promote justice and peace and to protect human rights and humanity, Jordan is working to bring the concept of such a judicial institution to the Arab world. 

Moreover, on the international level, Jordan took steps to promote the ICC and the need for it especially to the Arab countries. In 2004, a conference named “The Sana`a Inter-Governmental Regional Conference on Democracy, Human Rights and the Role of the International Criminal Court” took place in Sana`a in Yemen. In this conference, the Foreign Ministry introduced the ICC, the crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, how it works and the role of Jordan. 

The Jordanian report implicates the court time jurisdiction; which was the main point to inspirit the Arab countries to sign and ratify the ICC Statute. The report highlights the Jordanian step in signing and ratifying the court statute and the early approval of the Rome Basic regulation. Also, that Jordan has been granted membership in the association of the Member States and that Prince Zeid has been appointed as a chairman of it for three years. In addition, that Jordan has become a member of the group of “Friends of the Court” which is a conglomeration of a number of countries which played a role in the success of a UN conference concerned with the establishment of the Court, and that Jordan, by joining that group, has a role in empowering the Jordanian delegation in Rome negotiations for considering the crimes of group expulsion and transfer of settlers as a war crime and crimes against humanity in the court basic regulation.

Jordan, as a member in the ICC, welcomes local and international human rights groups to probate the ICC mission. The issue of human rights has many active supporters in Jordan, governmental and non-governmental organisations. Jordan has signed and ratified a lot of international agreements, treaties and declarations on human rights. Moreover, Jordan signed the two optional protocols on the rights of the child concerning pornography, and the situation of children in armed conflict, and has participated actively in international conferences and forums with the aim of promoting equality of human dignity, mutual respect, tolerance and justice. 

Jordan places great emphasis on observing and implementing the Rome Statute of the ICC, and recognises that peaceful settlement cannot be achieved without observing the rules of international law enshrined by the court. Jordan assures its full support to the important role played by the ICC in preventing crimes and in supporting the principles of international law and international humanitarian law. Jordan has played a role in bringing peace to the Middle East by its international relations, and has been an effective voice of the Arab world in the West.

Yazan Dakhlallah Haddadin is lawyer and legal expert