The Committee of the Whole this morning continued its consideration of the final clauses, the Preamble and the Final Act.  The Representative of Andorra said that the Preamble should also have an inspirational character, adding that "we need a poet in this Conference in the tradition of medieval troubadours".  The Final Act was introduced by the Coordinator Rama Rao of India.  Attached to the Final Act is a draft resolution whose main tasks are to make the necessary arrangements for the coming into operation of the International Criminal Court.

The Working Group on Penalties considered articles 75 to 79 of Part 7.  In his introductory remarks, the Coordinator for Part 7, Rolf Fife of Norway stressed that the most contentious issues were the inclusion or not of the death penalty and the length of imprisonment for a person convicted under the statute.  Length of imprisonment proposed by delegations varied from 20 to 40 years.  Some delegations were against life imprisonment calling it a human rights violation, cruel and degrading.  As regards article 79, many delegations were of the opinion that a trust fund should be established for the benefit of victims of crime.  As regards death penalty, different views were expressed.  Some Arab States were in favour of its inclusion and others like Spain, Mexico and France were against death penalty.