Current Affairs Czech Republic recognizes International Criminal Court

The Czech Republic had long been a lone voice in the European crowd in not having ratified the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in its country. But in a vote on Wednesday night, 140 out of 183 MPs present ratified the country’s acceptance of the court – only 120 votes were required. The Czech senate had already voted to recognize the court back in July. The vast majority of Civic Democrats, the strongest party in government, voted in favour of the legislation, as did most opposition Social Democrats. The communists abstained from the vote.

The Civic Democrat Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil had personally assured the assembly that the recognition of the court would not be at odds with the country’s constitution in that the country would be ceding judiciary powers to an external entity – a long-standing concern. In fact, the court can only step in if a country explicitly declines to act on a case involving its nationals. Meanwhile, the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg noted that the Czech Republic’s lone stand within the EU had damaged the country’s reputation. The court is now recognised in all of Europe, with the exception of Ukraine and Belarus. Still notably absent in the rest of the world is the United States as well as China, Russia, India, Israel and most Arab countries.

Jiří Pospíšil Bill Cohn is an expert on international law and teaches at the University of New York in Prague. I asked him what the Czech Republic’s membership of the ICC means:

“It has consented to and ratified to be bound by the terms of the Rome Convention, which established the ICC. It entails being a member of the international community, which accepts and signs onto the notion that there are certain crimes that are so horrendous that international law will provide an adjudication and remedy; that crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes are matters of such common humanity that the sovereign state cedes some of its sovereign power to this international judicial forum in order to determine if such crimes have been committed.”

Bill Cohn, photo: www.unyp.cz A last-minute effort by the communists was mounted to move ratification until many of the notably absent international players such as the US approved the court, something which proponents described as unrealistic. But what to make of the apparent foot-dragging by successive Czech governments to ratify the court’s validity? Bill Cohn again:

“Firstly, as to the wrangling, that rather reminds me of the process whereby the Czechs have tried to defer making a decision on the Lisbon Treaty. It is arguably a tactical manoeuvre to avoid taking a stand on the issues of the day. Most European countries with a strong tradition of human rights, especially based on the European Convention on Human Rights have found that signing onto and ratifying the Rome Convention and the International Criminal Court is something that is true to the fundamental values of their peoples. It is not international law only, but it is domestic law as well.”

The Czech Republic had previously signed up to the court in principle back in 1999, as talks over EU membership were in full swing. Yesterday’s move, however represents overcoming one of the last hurdles in the process to become the 109th state in the world to ratify the court – however, the law must still be approved by the Czech president, and some analysts do not rule out a veto, which would then likely be overturned by the Czech parliament.