Mr. Chairman,

Let me congratulate you upon your election to the chair of this conference. I am sure that your skills and experience will guide our works to the successful result - the adoption of the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The conference we have just commenced is of a special significance. It is one of the most important milestones in the history of this century. It has ambitious task to perform, namely, the establishment of the International Criminal Court. The Court we are creating today will help us avoid the spread of violence in the forthcoming centuries.

The place where the conference is being held is of special meaning. Many centuries ago, here in Rome the foundations of the rule of law were laid down. And those foundations served not only for Europe but for the whole international community. Today, we have an excellent opportunity to go further in developing and strengthening the said rule of law. Our works affect an important area - individual responsibility of the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes. We have to try to create an efficient mechanism that would facilitate combatting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The world today seems to require such a mechanism even more than fifty years ago in Nuremberg or Tokyo. The latest events in the Balkans and Rwanda prove the point well.

That is why, Poland joins the international community in supporting the idea of the speedy establishment of the International Criminal Court. The ICC should have the authority to ensure that the perpetrators of the most violent and disgusting atrocities - namely genocide, war, crimes against humanity - will not go free for the sole reason that the national courts are not ready or are unable to prosecute them.

We would like to establish truly effective, workable and independent International Criminal Court. We fully support the idea of the complementary nature of the Court in relation to national jurisdictions. Complementarity should be the fundamental principle of the functioning of the Court.

In our view a truly independent Court should be vested with sufficient competence to determine whether States-Parties properly discharge their jurisdiction or not. Moreover, the Court should have automatic competence that should be transferred by the state at the moment of becoming a party to the Statute, at least in relation to the core crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Poland, who fifty years ago was a victim of aggression, and experienced its cruelty,. was a helpless witness of avoidance of responsibility by many of its perpetrators. Thus, Poland fully supports the idea of extending the competence of the Court to the crime of aggression. We do hope that we can find an acceptable definition of that crime. The definition should take into account the results of the works of the International Law Commission on the crimes against peace. as well as be consistent with the United Nations Charter.

We are aware of the fact that aggression is one of the most serious international crimes without which the Statute of the Court would be seriously limited. Poland is of the view that the works of this conference should concentrate on finding an acceptable solution to the problem of the connection between the competence of the Security Council in the determination of the act of aggression and the jurisdiction of the Court.

Poland supports in particular the inclusion into the Statute of the wide catalogue of crimes. We are convinced that international criminal law should cover the crimes of aggression, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Having Poland's historic experience in mind, we are against the idea of the competence of the Court being dependent upon the narrow initiative of only several subjects of international relations. Instead, we do believe that only wide access to the Court would enable it to carry out its functions efficiently. Therefore, we believe that as a general rule, the States and the UN should have the right to bring cases to the Court.

For that reason we support the idea of endowing the Prosecutor with the power to institute proceedings ex officio. However, in this context we are far from diminishing the role and significance of the United Nations Security Council in the area of the maintenance of international peace and security. The Council should have a broad powers to bring cases to the Court.

However, we reject the proposals enabling the Security Council to obstruct the prosecution for the sole reason that the Council is involved in a specific situation.
Poland supports the proposed creation of a Pre-Trial Chamber as an organ empowered to review all indictments with the purpose to assist the Prosecutor in his or her tasks.

The efficient co-operation of states with the Court is indispensable for the establishment of the Court. We attach great importance to the inclusion to the Statute of the clearly defined obligation of the States Parties to co-operate closely with the Court. The said obligation should be unconditional.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me once again reiterate the strong support of Poland for the negotiations we have initiated these days. The success of our negotiations will determine whether the Court will be an effective instrument not only for penalisation but also for prevention of atrocities. Let me recall the words of His Holiness Pope John Paul II - "this gathering may constitute a historic moment on the way toward a mutual understanding among all peoples." It is our hope, as well.

I'd like to assure you that the Polish delegation will do its best to make the Court a reality.