Mr. President,

This Diplomatic conference is the culmination of years of efforts, which presents us with a historic opportunity to achieve our ultimate goal, the establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC). As is well known, the idea of creating a permanent international penal system has been on the agenda in the UN fora since the end of World War II. At the beginning, progress was painfully slow but recent positive changes and developments in international relations paved the way for a wider acceptance of the notion of individual criminal responsibility. The decision of the Security Council to set up two ad-hoc Tribunals also contributed to this process. However, the real turning point came in 1994, when the International Law Commission finalized the draft statute of the ICC. The subsequent progress made in the Ad Hoc and later the Preparatory Committee enabled the General Assembly to convene this Conference.

Having said that, I cannot but join previous speakers and pay special tribute to Mr. Adrian Bos for his skilful guidance of the work of the Preparatory Committee. Let me also acknowledge the very useful and important role non governmental organizations have played in this process. I would like to express our gratitude to the Government of Italy for hosting the Conference and to the Government of the Netherlands for offering The Hague as the seat of the ICC. Since, as we all know, substantial work remains to be done and some difficult political and legal decisions will have to be made during the conference, may I use this opportunity to offer to you, Mr. President, my delegation's full support in your dedicated efforts to bring our common endeavours to a successful end.

Mr. President,

History has clearly demonstrated. that justice is an indispensable component of lasting peace as also reflected in the Charter of the United Nations. Starting from that premise, the Republic of Hungary firmly believes that all those who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held personally responsible and accountable. We are convinced that bringing to justice all those who commit the most heinous international crimes is an important contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the protection of human rights. The timeliness of implementing this principle has been sorrowfully demonstrated by the war crimes and other grave violations of international humanitarian law which have been committed recently in conflicts around the world.

Hungary, being a country neighbouring one of those areas where such dreadful crimes have occurred, not only welcomed but, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 1992-93, took its share as well in the decision of the Council to set up an ad hoc Tribunal for the, prosecution of crimes committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Since then, my country has constantly given its full support to the. activities of that ad hoc Tribunal as well as to the one set up later, in the aftermath of the horrendous atrocities in Rwanda.

On the basis of the forgoing, my country has attached - from the very beginning - a paramount importance to the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court which, being established by a multilateral treaty, will operate on an unequivocal legal basis and, at the same time, can rely on the experience arising from the functioning of the two ad hoc Tribunals.

Due to the limited time available, I confine myself at this juncture, to identifying only a few fundamental elements which, in view of Hungary, should be reflected in the Statute of the ICC:
 

• The Court should have inherent (automatic) jurisdiction over the core crimes of genocide, war crimes (whether committed in international or in internal armed conflicts and without any specific threshold requirement) and crimes against humanity (whether committed in time of peace or in armed conflict). !n our view, the crime of aggression should also be included in the Statute, provided a satisfactory formulation can be found on its definition and on the role of the Security Council;

• The inherent (automatic) jurisdictional regime should exclude any form of state consent requirements. The ICC should have the authority to determine whether the competent national courts are unable or unwilling to exercise their jurisdiction;

•  The prosecutor should be empowered to initiate investigations and proceedings on his or her own motion (ex officio), subject only to review by appropriate organs of the Court itself,

• States Parties should be under a mandatory obligation to comply with requests for assistance and cooperation by the Court, with no grounds for refusal on the bases of national laws and state-to-state cooperation agreements.,

•  The Court should ensure the highest international standards of fair trial and due process at all stages of the proceedings;

•  There should be no reservations to the Statute because that would defeat the object and purpose of the Court and would lead to an unworkable system.

My delegation is well aware of the complexity and difficulty of the issues to be solved and of the need to multiply our efforts in order to put an end to the cycle of impunity. At the same time, we are of the view that  - since the ICC has widespread support among States - by vigorously pursuing the negotiations and by doing our utmost, aspirations can be turned into reality and as a result a just, fair, workable, truly independent and genuinely effective Court can be established.