Rome Statute ratified by Parliament

The Parliament Thursday ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court that was adopted in Rome in 1998, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the Ministry of Justice. In the same sitting, the MPs adopted the amendments to the Penal Code drafted by the Ministry of Justice. They adjust the national legislation to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Moldova pledged to ratify this document during the negotiations on the Association Agreement with the EU. The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. It can generally exercise jurisdiction only in cases where the accused is a national of a state party, the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party, or a situation is referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council. The court is designed to complement existing national judicial systems: it can exercise its jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute such crimes. Primary responsibility to investigate and punish crimes is therefore left to individual states. As a member of the International Criminal Court, Moldova will pay dues of 0.002% of the country’s budget annually. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was ratified by the vote of 55 MPs.