BY INVITATION ONLY: Closed Expert Meeting on Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Date: 2010-06-18 to 2010-06-19

Venue: Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

As part of the International Crime in Africa Programme’s work to constructively shape the International Criminal Court (ICC) from the African perspective, ICAP together with Charles Jalloh, initiated the ‘Article 16 project’. The project aims to provide workable proposals to help resolve the concerns raised by the African Union and African states parties around the relationship between the UN Security Council and the ICC, and specifically the UNSC’s powers of deferral under Article 16. A draft position paper on the issue has been prepared and circulated to a group of African and international experts from civil society and government. Most of the experts will be attending the meeting to discuss and finalise the position paper (others will contribute by sending written comments). The final position paper will be made public in August 2010 and will be distributed to specific constituencies in preparation for the 9th ICC Assembly of States Parties in December 2010 in New York. Members of the expert working group include:

1. Dapo Akande, Lecturer, Public International Law, University of Oxford
2. Mirjam Blaak (Amb), Deputy Head of Mission, Uganda Embassy, Brussels
3. Erika de Wet, Professor of International Constitutional Law, University of Amsterdam and Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria
4. Don Deya, CEO, Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)
5. Richard Dicker, Director, International Justice Programme, Human Rights Watch
6. Anton du Plessis, Head, International Crime in Africa Programme, ISS
7. Max du Plessis, Senior Research Associate, ISS and Associate Professor of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal
8. John Dugard, Professor of International Law, University of Leiden and Honourary Professor of Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
9. Jim Goldston, Executive Director, Open Society Justice Initiative
10. Charles Jalloh, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
11. Uno Katjipuka, Legal Services and International Cooperation, Ministry of Justice, Namibia
12. Tiya Maluwa, Director, School of International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University
13. Athaliah Molokomme, Attorney General, Botswana
14. Ifeyinwa Angela Nworgu, Senior Adviser to the President of the UN General Assembly, UN Headquarters, New York
15. Kim Prost, Judge, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
16. Bill Schabas, Director, Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland
17. Andre Stemmet, Senior State Law Adviser, Department of International Relations & Cooperation, South Africa