Mr. President,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my pleasure and honour to be here, at this historic conference – the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the establishment of an International Criminal Court.

At first, I would like to join the previous speakers to express our sincere thanks to the Government of Italy for hosting this significant conference.  My delegation would also like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your assumption of the presidency of the conference. Under your leadership and wisdom, we believe that the conference will come to successful end.

Our high appreciation and thanks are also extended to the International Law Commission, Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court and UN Secretariat who have been making tremendous efforts in facilitating the present work of our Conference.

Mr. President,

The Establishment of the International Criminal Court has always been considered of great significance. It is widely recognised that criminals of international character can not go without appropriate punishment. Throughout our history, though many efforts have been tried in dealing with criminal offences, few have proved adequate, effective and comprehensive. Still much more efforts need to be done by the international community in order that an International Judicial Institution be established in the service of the above-mentioned purpose. Like other states in the world we welcome the establishment of the International Criminal Court and are ready to cooperage with the international community in this effort.

Our delegation would like to take this opportunity to make clear relevant positions of the Government of Vietnam.

Mr. President,

I would start our Statement by stressing our full support to the Declaration by the Non Aligned Movement on the Establishment of the International Criminal Court, Colombia, May 1998. The International Criminal Court, when established. must be independent, fair, impartial and effective. As an international judicial body, this Court will not be influenced by political, financial or other factors. We are of the position that the independence and impartiality of the Court will ensure not only the effectiveness of the Court in fulfilling of its mandate' but also the broad participation by member states into the Statute.

As the core of this statute, the principle of complementarity should be clearly stipulated in this instrument. It is held by our Government that the International Criminal Court is not to replace the national jurisdiction of a state. In principle, states will have prior jurisdiction over all relevant cases. 'This principle if adequately and comprehensively stipulated in the Statute will promote the universality of the International Criminal Court thus ensuring a large number of states participating in the establishment of the Court.

The Government of Vietnam favours the idea that the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court should be limited to the core crimes. They are crimes of genocide, aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Among those, the inclusion of the crime of aggression in the jurisdiction of the Court is strongly supported by our Government. It is an international crime which should be subject to criminal responsibility. We believe the inclusion of the crime of aggression under its jurisdiction is of great importance to the International Criminal Court.

Mr. President,

The acceptance and implementation of the Court's jurisdiction should be based on the consent of the states concerned. The principle of "primacy of national jurisdiction" - namely, the rights and obligations of states concerned to investigate and prosecute crimes falling within their jurisdiction - has broadly been accepted in international law. It is therefore considered by our Government that any activity of the Court without prior consent of the states concerned constitutes an encroachment of state sovereignty. This will affect the universality mid effectiveness of the Court.

International Cooperation and judicial assistance by the states parties to the Statute shall not be underestimated.

The International Criminal Court can only effectively and fully implement its mandate if there will be aft; effective cooperation among states' concerned, such as, the states where the crimes are committed, the states whose nationality the criminals belong to, the states whose nationals are victim of those criminal act ect. Again Mr. President, an appropriate mechanism for international cooperation and judicial assistance if finalised-will also give rise to the universality of the Court.

The concept of geographical equability should be reflected in the composition of the International Criminal Court. Our world consists of different parts with different legal, political and social systems. An appropriate representation of those different areas will guarantee the effectiveness and sufficiency of the, Court in its judicial practice.

With the aim to promoting the Court's universality, we are of the view that this Statute should be passed by consensus. We support the inclusion in this instrument a provision on reservation.

Finally, it is necessary that the Court will be adequately funded in accomplishment of its work. Nevertheless, the funding aimed at undermining the effectiveness, independence and impartiality of the Court are considered unacceptable by Vietnam.

Mr. President,

Let me conclude our intervention by expressing the readiness of the Government of Vietnam and our delegation in cooperating with other Governments and Delegations to bring our Conference to the successes.

Thank you for your attention.