Parliaments need to be addressed.

• Author: Martinez, Miguel-Angel
• Position: Support of Inter-Parliamentary Union member countries' parliaments for International Criminal Court's Statute

When I addressed the Conference to establish an International Criminal Court in Rome last June, I also pledged to recommend that the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)-the world organization of national parliaments-undertake a campaign among all its members to achieve early ratification and entry into force of the Statute of the proposed Court. In most countries, this will require action by national parliaments. This is only natural. The decisions which are taken by Governments at the international level are decisions they take on behalf of the State. And as such they can only be put into practice with the consent of the other fundamental institution of the State - the Parliament that basically incarnates the sovereignty of the people within the structures of the State. Indeed, in a democratic system, Parliament is the most legitimate institution representing society as a whole.

Since the very beginning of its existence last century, the IPU has seen the development and codification of international law as an essential part of international cooperation for peace and security, to govern relations between States, to provide for the judicial settlement of disputes that constitute a threat to peace and, if necessary, also methods of execution and of sanction. Very early on, the Union sought to advance international legal norms relating to the rights and to the outlawing of wars of aggression and to the national minorities. And one of the very first objectives IPU was originally created and for which its members worked hard was the establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Shortly after the end of the First World War, the organization turned its attention to the establishment of an International Criminal Court and worked on this subject closely with the International Association of Penal Law.

As we all know, one of the key issues which Parliaments examine when considering the ratification of an international agreement is the question of how and and to what extent national sovereignty is affected. Therefore, members of Parliaments will pay particular attention to the concept of complementarity which will govern the International Criminal Court's relationship with national courts.

Most of us will agree that alleged criminals should normally be tried by their own national judicial...