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PGA’s vision is to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, sustainable and democratic world.

Japan and the Rome Statute

PGA contributed to the Japan’s ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. During the 4th Session of the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law held in Tokyo in 2006, the Japanese Government announced the imminent ratification of the Rome Statute. The CAP-ICC was designed to provide the Japanese Government with a public venue in which to announce the deposit to Parliament of the ICC Accession Bill.

Signature, Ratification of/Accession to the Rome Statute of the ICC
Accession Date: 17 July 2007
Amendments to the Rome Statute
Ratification of the Kampala Amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on war crimes [poison and expanding bullets in NIAC] (2010): No
Ratification of the Kampala Amendment to the Rome Statute on the crime of aggression reflected in Article 8 bis (2010): No
Ratification of the Amendment to Article 124 of the Rome Statute (2015): No
Ratification of the Amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on war crimes [biological weapons] (2017): No
Ratification of the Amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on war crimes [blinding laser weapons] (2017): No
Ratification of the Amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on war crimes [non-detectable fragments] (2017): No
Ratification of the Amendments to Article 8 of the Rome Statute on war crimes [starvation as a war crime in NIAC] (2019): No
Adoption of implementation legislation of the Rome Statute of the ICC

When Japan ratified the ICC Statute, the Japanese government concluded that acts of genocide and crimes against humanity could be mostly punished as traditional crimes, such as murder and rape. Therefore, Japan did not create crimes with these particular names under its national legislation. Among war crimes, offenses that the Penal Code does not cover are covered by the Law Concerning the Punishment of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law – Law No. 115, 2004). However, this Act contains few of the underlying crimes recognized in Art. 8 of the Rome Statute. It has to be read in conjunction with the Penal Code (Law No. 45, 1907).

The Act on Cooperation with the International Criminal Court provides the procedures for handling all types of requests for cooperation under Part IX of the Rome Statute.
Cooperation Agreements
Ratification of Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Court (APIC): No.
Signature of Agreement of Enforcement Sentences with the ICC: No.
Signature of Agreement of Interim and Final Release with the ICC: No.
Signature of Bilateral Immunity Agreement with the USA: No.
Key Documents

Status of the Rome Statute System as of February 2024:

 
States that have ratified the Rome Statute [124]
 
States that have signed the Rome Statute but have not ratified it yet [30]
 
States that have withdrawn from the Rome Statute [2]
 
States that have neither signed nor ratified the Rome Statute
 

124 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Of these, 33 are African States, 19 are Asia-Pacific States, 19 are from Eastern Europe, 28 are from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western European and other States.

Work of PGA in this Country:

Technical Session on Implementation by PGA Secretariat, October 2021.

Implementation

Implementation is the adoption of domestic legislation by a State to comply with the overall objective of putting “an end to impunity (…) for the most serious crimes of concern to the International Community as a whole” (cf. Preamble of the Rome Statute).

Bahrain, the host of the III Session of Working Group on the Universality of the ICC in the Memed Region, signed the Rome Statute on 11 December 2000.

PGA Consultations on the ICC in the Middle East and the Mediterranean (MEMED)

Legislators from Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the UAE and Yemen met in Manama, Bahrain under the auspices of Parliamentarians for Global Action and its members Dr. Salah Ali, MP (Al Menbar) and Mr. Khalil Al-Marzooq, MP (Al Wefaq) members of the Majlis Al Nu

The Fourth session of The Consultative Assembly brought together 165 MPs from all continents.

Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law - 4th Session

and 28th Annual Parliamentary Forum. Tokyo, Japan, December 4-5, 2006.

Legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam discussed prospects for increasing the participation of Asia in the ICC system.

Asian Parliamentarians Consultation on the Universality of the ICC

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), together with the Philippines Coalition for the ICC and the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), Asia and the Pacific organized an Asian Parliamentarians Consultation on the Universality of the International Criminal Cou

Publication

Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court
Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court

Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court

It is imperative that the Rome Statute be ratified universally for the successful functioning of the Court. Parliamentarians should ensure that the ICC is truly universal.

Description

Created by the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent and independent international court capable of investigating and bringing to justice individuals who commit the most serious violations of international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and human rights.

The Rome Statute defines the crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction and provides the general principles and procedures for the operation of the Court. It also outlines the cooperation obligations of its State Parties. It is imperative that the Rome Statute be ratified universally for the successful functioning of the Court. Parliamentarians should ensure that the ICC is truly universal.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Toolkit
  • Author(s): Parliamentarians for Global Action

Publication

Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Description

The ICC is the first and only permanent independent court with the mandate to investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for committing international crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Its 18 judges from around the world, elected for a nine-year term, play a key role in ensuring this expectation is lived up to through their primary mandate to render authoritative and high-quality jurisprudence and guarantee fair trials.

Therefore, the quality of the judges has fundamental importance to the performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of the ICC, which is at the heart of the long-term success of the ICC and the Rome Statute system as a whole. In this handbook, PGA sets forth specific criteria and recommendations for Parliamentarians to encourage their governments to improve national nomination procedures for ICC judicial candidates and adopt good practices and requirements to ensure these processes are fair, transparent, and merit-based. The goal of robust nomination procedures is to ensure that only candidate judges or jurists of the highest caliber make it on the ballot.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Handbook
  • Author(s): Parliamentarians for Global Action

Publication

Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Description

It is our honor and privilege to present to you the Third Edition of the Handbook on the Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

It is the product of our collaborative effort aimed at assisting States in ratifying the amendments adopted by consensus in Kampala and helping criminalize the most serious forms of the illegal use of force.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Handbook
  • Author(s): Permanent Mission of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations; Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression; Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University (LISD); (Drafting Assistance by PGA)