Ratification of ICC delayed

JAKARTA: The government has decided not to rush into ratifying a convention on the International Criminal Court, which was scheduled for enactment within the next two years, for fear of prejudicing the country's sovereignty.

Ministry of Justice and Human Rights director general of law administration Romli Atmasasmita said on Wednesday that the government would first study the implications of joining the agreement while, at the same time, upgrading the law.

"Our law is inadequate to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. Without effective law, we could do nothing but let the International Criminal Court take over the cases," he said, after a two-day workshop on the court.

At least 160 countries have agreed to adopt an international agreement known as the Rome Statute for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which will be applicable once it is ratified by 60 countries.

As of Oct. 12, 42 countries had ratified the Statute and another one had acceded to it, while another 97 countries had signed it.

Romli said the government would hasten to improve the law, including the production of legal procedures for the human rights tribunal to support Law No. 26/2000 on human rights.

"Therefore, we have to be quick. Ratifying the statute is not mandatory because we could hold such a trial if we already had strong law. But once the Court has come into operation, we would be obliged to comply with its rules, even though we had not yet ratified the Statute," he added. --JP