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<title>AXWORTHY APPOINTS SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT</title>
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<p><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>June 27, 2000 <em>(10:45 a.m. EDT)</em> No. 163</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>AXWORTHY APPOINTS SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT</strong></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today announced the appointment of Irwin Cotler, Member of
Parliament for Mount Royal, as his Special Advisor for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Minister
made the announcement during an appearance before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and
International Trade which is currently studying the <em>Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act</em> (Bill C-19).
Mr. Cotler is a former Professor of Law at McGill University and is an internationally recognized expert in human
rights and humanitarian law.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">"Canada has been at the forefront of international efforts to create the ICC and was the first country to table
comprehensive implementation legislation," said Minister Axworthy. "Mr. Cotler will help us maintain our
leadership role in this initiative by helping to design a strategy to promote widespread ratification of the Statute
of the ICC, giving it the widest application and support possible."</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Mr. Axworthy also announced that the ICC Implementation Manual was launched last week in New York during
the ICC Preparatory Commission on the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. The manual is designed to assist
states, particularly developing countries, in ratifying and implementing the Statute of the ICC. It was prepared
jointly by the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights and Democracy) and
the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, with a $65 000 contribution from
the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Human Security and Peacebuilding Program. The
second phase of this project will include implementation seminars in African and Caribbean countries.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The Statute of the ICC was adopted by 120 states at a Canadian-chaired international diplomatic conference
held in Rome in July 1998. The Court will be the first permanent international tribunal to have jurisdiction over
the most serious crimes established in international law -- genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and,
once a suitable definition is adopted, the crime of aggression. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Ninety-seven states have signed the ICC Statute; it will enter into force with 60 ratifications. As of today, 12
states have ratified: Belize, Fiji, France, Ghana, Iceland, Italy, Norway, San Marino, Senegal, Tajikistan,
Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Canada is expected to be in a position to ratify the ICC Statute once implementing legislation is passed into law
by Parliament in the coming weeks. </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial">- 30 -</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For further information, media representatives may contact:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Debora Brown</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1851</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Media Relations Office</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1874</font></p>
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