Nigeria is committed to the ideals of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the cornerstone in the fight against impunity and a critical element of rules-based international order, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami has said.
Malami said Nigeria is committed to work with other state parties to oppose efforts that undermine the work of the court and its independence, his media aide, Dr. Umar Gwnadu, quoted the AGF as saying.
Gwandu, in a statement last night in Abuja, said Malami spoke at the 19th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC at the Hague in Netherlands.
According to him, Malami also said the Nigerian government was committed to supporting a process that is all-inclusive and transparently devoid of any sentiment in order to select the best and the most qualified candidates for the coveted positions of prosecutor and judges of the court.
“Nigeria wishes to reiterate the need not to compromise the issue of high moral character of candidates seeking elective offices within the Court system as that is the only way the credibility of the Court can be sustained,” Malami said.
The minister, the statement added, also noted that attacks against the International Criminal Court and its officials continued to weaken the Rome Statute system and its support across the globe.
The AGF told the gathering that the Nigerian government condemned all actions geared towards undermining and weakening the ICC’s ability to freely exercise its mandate.
“I note with great consternation that the promise and hope offered by the Rome Statute to victims of atrocious crimes worldwide is increasingly threatened by a retreat in multilateral engagement and rising tides of hostility, discrimination, and repression around the world.
“It is true that the conditions of service of the ICC judges need not be formally linked to those of ICJ judges. But it is important to stress that ICC Judges are not inferior to their counterparts at the ICJ or at the other International Courts in Europe. That equality of stature must also be reflected in parity of treatment in conditions of service,” Malami said.
The minister also lauded the efforts of the outgoing President of the ICC, who is also a Nigerian, Eboe-Osuji, whom he said brought enduring reforms to the global Court and spearheaded efforts that led to a better understanding of the Court on the world stage as well as improved the conditions of service of judges.
“Nigeria has taken note of efforts to reform the conditions of service of ICC judges. Nigeria is concerned about the rationale that has now disconnected those conditions from their traditional alignment with the conditions of service of the judges of the International Court of Justice,” Malami said.
