The Statute establishing an International Criminal Court was adopted tonight in Rome at the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. In adopting the Statute, delegates noted the historic nature of the occasion.

At the request of the United States, the Statute was adopted by a non-recorded vote (120 in favour, 7 against with 21 abstentions). After its adoption it was opened for signature along with the Final Act.  One hundred and twenty-seven delegations signed the Final Act and 10 signed the Statute which will also be available for signature at a special ceremony to be hosted by the Mayor of Rome on Saturday 18 July.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, will arrive in Rome on Saturday afternoon to attend the ceremony to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Conference.

Intense negotiations to agree on the text of the Statute were conducted over the five weeks of the Conference under the Chairmanship of Philippe Kirsch, Chairman of the Committee of the Whole. Visibly moved when the Committee adopted  the draft text earlier tonight by prolonged acclamation, Mr. Kirsch said it was a text "of which we can all be proud". Earlier in the meeting, two procedural motions had been voted on by the Committee which paved the way for the text to be agreed on as a whole with no amendments.

The Conference concluded at 2:15am Saturday 18 July. However, the Statute and Final Act continued to be signed by delegations for another 20 minutes after the meeting concluded.

The draft text of the Statute and the Final Act are currently available on the internet as document A/CONF.183/C.1/L.76 and Addendums 1 through 14. The final text of the Statute will be posted on the internet as soon as it is available on Saturday 18 July. The address is http://www.un.org/icc.
 
Further details of today's events are contained in press release L/ROM/22 which  includes details of both today's Committee of the Whole meeting and Plenary meeting, as well as a round-up of the Conference.
 

For information purposes only -- not an official record
Published by the Spokesperson of the Conference.