19 JUNE BRIEFING BY SUSAN MARKHAM, CONFERENCE SPOKESPERSON

19 June 1998

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

BRIEFING BY SPOKESPERSON FOR UN CONFERENCE OF PLENIPOTENTIARIES ON ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS
Susan Markham, the Spokesperson for the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, began her briefing on Friday by reminding correspondents that this would be the last formal briefing until the final week of the Conference, but Danielle Loff would be available for the interim to assist journalists and provide them with information on developments. Ms. Markham also introduced the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Cherif Bassiouni, who had come to the briefing to answer any questions correspondents might have.
Ms. Markham said that so far, there were some 500 accredited media representatives attending the Conference, 159 countries registered to participate, and 173 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accredited.
She then reviewed the schedule of press conferences for today, noting that it was also posted. At 4 pm there would be two press conferences: one by the delegation of the Republic of the Congo in the Iran Room, and one by the delegation of Spain (in Spanish only), in the Pakistan Room.

Ms. Markham pointed out that the Committee of the Whole was meeting today in the Red Room and that the working group was meeting in the Green Room. The schedule of meetings was available in the press area.
A correspondent asked for information on the status of access by NGOs and the press to the meetings of the Committee of the Whole. Ms. Markham replied that those meetings were open to both NGOs and the media, and that no special pass or ticket was required.

The correspondent then said that this morning, he had been barred from entering a meeting, and had been told that the meetings would be closed to the press until 11 July. Ms. Markham, noting that there appeared to be a conflicting set of instructions, said she would sort the matter out.

Mr. Bassiouni began by noting that the core legislative text before the Conference ran just over 200 pages, comprising some 120 articles which had been elaborated over the last two years by the Preparatory Committee. A number of working groups were dealing with the different proposals. Some of the provisions were fairly well agreed upon, others had a large number of brackets (indicating disagreement) around some words, while still others had alternative texts proposed. "So in effect you can say that there are multiple levels of readiness of the various texts -- some provisions are very close to being ready to be sent to the Drafting Committee, other texts still need some work and yet others need a great deal more work," he said.

Mr. Bassiouni said the text fell into three categories: that which involved a substantial number of political issues, that which involved both technical and political issues, and that which was of an exclusively technical nature. He remarked that the text which was exclusively technical would go to the Drafting Committee the soonest, while the text that was substantially political would go last.

"Our task at the Drafting Committee is not of a substantive nature; the rules of procedure very clearly say that ours is a technical task," Mr. Bassiouni explained. He said the Drafting Committee received text and then went over it for linguistic reasons and then to ensure the flow of the language. It aimed to maintain harmony and consistency in the choice of words, to identify any gaps in the provisions, and to see if the label, title or heading corresponded to the contents. Efforts were made to cross-reference different texts, identify if there were any overlaps among them, and make sure that the provisions were placed properly in the overall draft.

This task was made more difficult, he said, in the light of the fact that the Drafting Committee would not receive all of the articles in blocks. For example, it might receive articles 2,5 and 15 in different parts, or article 2 paragraphs 1 and 3 but not 4. "For a period of time it will be like assembling a jigsaw puzzle of 120 articles." After each paragraph in each article was completed, it would be necessary to ensure that each piece was in the right place to form the correct picture. "I expect we will be spending our nights here in the next few weeks," he added.

Mr. Bassiouni was asked whether delegations were re-opening language that had been agreed upon previously, and how this would affect his work. "You have to think of the mechanics of how the Conference as a whole works," he said in reply. Text was sent to the Committee of the Whole, which might decide that a provision was ready to be sent to the Drafting Committee or that it should be the subject of further discussion in the Committee of the Whole, or that it should be negotiated in a working group. "As time progresses -- and this is part of the UN system -- the working group may form an informal working group or working groups." Once the informal group or groups completed the task, the text had to go "back up the ladder" to the Committee of the Whole, which would then refer it to the Drafting Committee. Whether the Committee of the Whole was in a position to send text or to discuss it further or to present it to the working group would depend on the article in question. "There is no way that anyone can predict at this point which article will go faster or slower than the other," he concluded.