Mr. President,

On behalf of the Nigerian delegation, I convey to you our congratulations on your election as President of this Conference. Your election is a recognition of your experience, professionalism and diplomatic skill. We are confident that under your presidency, the work of this august assemblage will be successful.

We join other delegations in wishing Mr. Adrian Bos under whose able leadership the preparatory work was done speedy recovery. I would also like to express appreciation to members of the Secretariat and Preparatory Committee for their commitment to the  accomplishment of otherwise a daunting task. They have done a good work in the service of mankind.

Mr. President,

We have gathered here in this great city to write a new chapter of International law. Indeed, it is an attempt to restructure international society. Admittedly, there is need for the establishment of an International Criminal Court to compliment the efforts of existing internal justice systems. In doing so, however, it is pertinent that its jurisdiction must be properly defined. We must not allow history to repeat itself. Member States represented here should not see this conference as yet another opportunity to confer special status to few States to the disadvantage of majority of States. The statute must be drafted in a manner that the cardinal principle of sovereignty of states shall be preserved, as enshrined in the UN Charter. It is therefore our expectation that developing countries will become part of the international legal system and not victims of it. The Court to be established must be mindful of the sauce-cultural circumstances of States. Its operation and judicial functions must not be prejudiced by political considerations or by actions of the Security Council.

Mr. President,

Nigeria supports the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court to deal with serious crimes of international nature. As a demonstration of this our delegation participated in the work of the Preparatory Committee at all levels. Our presence here is a further affirmation of this support and our willingness to work with the international community to achieve a just world order. We are convinced that the establishment of an effective international criminal system complementary to national criminal justice systems would contribute towards the maintenance of international peace and security. We are aware of the effort exerted by the international community to address the most serious crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crimes of aggression. It is the wish of my delegation that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, the use of anti-personnel mines and other weapons of mass destruction should come under War Crimes. Similarly, crimes related to international terrorism of whatever form, money laundering, drug trafficking, and those crimes against the United Nations and associated personnel should come under the jurisdiction of the Court. These are as much of concern to the international community as the other four crimes adopted in the draft statute. This Conference offers a unique opportunity to state categorically the nature and scope of the International Criminal Court which the majority of States want to see established, and which will command the confidence, co-operation and support of the States parties. I therefore appeal to every delegation to see our mission here as being in the service of not only our respective States but humanity, at large. In doing so, deliberate effort need to be made to balance the expectations of developing countries with those of the industrialised nations of the world, so that the institution that will emerge will protect equally both the big and small States.

Mr. President,

On the proposed role of the Security Council, my delegation has its reservation. Nigeria upholds the principles and ideals of the United Nations, an organisation which occupies a pride of place in the global system. There should be a relationship between it as a body and the International Criminal Court, as in the case of the International Seabed Authority, where such a relationship is governed by an agreement. In particular, my delegation is opposed to any proposal to confer on the Security Council the exclusive right to determine when aggression is committed and its referral to the ICC. It is the view of my delegation that the court should not from its beginning be encumbered by avoidable political influences.

We are not unmindful of the power of the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, but it should not be allowed to extend to the court.

Similarly, my delegation has strong reservation to the ex-officio powers of the prosecutor under Article 12 of the draft statute. These powers given to an individual without any checks may subject the prosecutor to political manipulations and other subterranean influences which will not augur well for the independence of the ICC. The court must be independent.

It is the understanding of my delegation that the ICC is intended to be complimentary to national criminal justice systems, in cases where trial procedures do not exist or may be ineffective. We endorse this and hope that this will be retained in the statute. However, it is not clear yet who should determine how and on what criteria a national system is assessed to be ineffective.

In this connection, my delegation wishes to reiterate and support fully the collective African position as contained in the OAU Declaration on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, which was adopted at the organisation's recent Session in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in June 1998. It underlines, among other things, that the cardinal principle of sovereignty of states shall be preserved in the statute of the court, that the court shall be complimentary to national criminal justice systems and based on the consent of the states concerned. A similar Declaration was made last month (May 1998) by the Ministerial Meeting of the Co-ordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Countries in Cartagena, Colombia.
 

Mr. President,

We favour an effective, independent and impartial International Criminal Court that will be really worthy of the name. This we can do by resisting pressures to turn this historic project into another instrument to. be used by some powers to monitor and control the activities of small states.

Mr. President,

The independence of the court must be guaranteed for it to enjoy the confidence of states parties. It is therefore imperative for us to establish a balanced ICC with equitable geographical character. There is also need for a conscious effort to block extraordinary influences on the court, so that its work, will not be prejudiced by political considerations of any kind. In this regard, a suitable mechanism should be put in place for the financing of the court in order to preserve its independence, impartiality and effectiveness.

Mr. President,

My delegation wishes to mention another important point. This is on the administration and staffing of the court. It is an accepted principle that international institutions should reflect international character in their staffing. It seems to me that the prevailing situation so far is that the principle is applied only in respect of principal officers. It is our view that this issue be addressed.

Mr. President,

My delegation joins with other delegations in extending appreciation to the Government and people of Italy for their warmth and hospitality in hosting the Conference.

I thank you.