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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 93

Calling for the President to support efforts by the United Nations to conclude

an international agreement to establish an international criminal court.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 11 (legislative day, APRIL 19), 1993

Mr. SPECTER introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

JOINT RESOLUTION

Calling for the President to support efforts by the United

Nations to conclude an international agreement to establish an international criminal court.

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) the preservation of international security

6 and peace rests on adherence to the rule of law and

7 principles of justice by the nations and peoples of

8 the world;

9 (2) international security and peace are threat10 ened by violations of international law by war
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1 crimes, genocide, military aggression, terrorism,

2 drug trafficking, and other international crimes;

3 (3) violations of international law by such inter4 national acts have a severely detrimental effect on

5 the United States, putting Americans at risk and

6 costing the Nation billions of dollars;

7 (4) the prosecution of individuals suspected of

8 violating international law is often impeded by do9 mestic political and legal obstacles imposed by the

10 nations involved;

11 (5) the International Military Tribunals estab12 lished after World War II to try suspected war

13 criminals demonstrated that fair and effective pros14 ecution of war criminals could be carried out in an

15 international forum by nations acting in concert

16 under international law;

17 (6) since its establishment in 1945 the United

18 Nations has sought to establish a permanent inter19 national criminal court to try crimes committed in

20 violation of international law;

21 (7) there are many examples of international

22 judicial bodies successfully exercising legal authority

23 over nations that have voluntarily agreed to submit

24 to the jurisdiction of such tribunals;
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1 (8) in 1978 the American Bar Association

2 adopted a resolution urging the Department of State

3 to open negotiations for a convention to establish an

4 international criminal court with jurisdiction over

5 international crimes of hijacking, violence aboard

6 aircraft, crimes against diplomats and internation7 ally protected persons, and murder and kidnapping;

8 (9) in the Ninety-ninth Congress, in the Omni9 bus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of

10 1986, it was expressed as the sense of the Congress

11 that the President should consider the possibility of

12 eventually establishing an international tribunal for

13 prosecuting terrorists;

14 (10) in the One Hundredth Congress, in the

15 Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, it was expressed as

16 the sense of the Senate that the President should

17 begin discussions with foreign governments to inves18 tigate the feasibility and advisability of establishing

19 an international criminal court to expedite cases re20 garding the prosecution of persons accused of having

21 engaged in international drug trafficking or having

22 committed international crimes;

23 (11) the United Nations General Assembly

24 adopted Resolution 44/39 on December 4, 1989,

25 calling on the International Law Commission to
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1 study the feasibility of an international criminal

2 court;

3 (12) the draft report of the International Law

4 Commission issued in July 1990, expressed the

5 Commission’s agreement in principle with the idea of

6 establishing a permanent international criminal

7 court;

8 (13) in the One Hundred First Congress, in the

9 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, Congress re10 quired the President and the Judicial Conference of

11 the United States to report to the Congress on the

12 establishment of an international criminal court;

13 (14) in the One Hundred Second Congress, the

14 Senate passed, as part of the Persian Gulf War

15 Criminals Act of 1991, a proposal calling on the

16 President to propose to the United Nations the es17 tablishment of an international criminal tribunal to

18 prosecute Persian Gulf War criminals;

19 (15) in 1992 the American Bar Association

20 adopted a resolution calling on the United States

21 Government to work toward solving the legal and

22 practical issues regarding the establishment of an

23 international criminal court;

24 (16) the United Nations General Assembly

25 adopted Resolution 47/33 on November 25, 1992,
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1 calling on the International Law Commission to

2 begin the process of drafting a statute for an inter3 national criminal court at its next session;

4 (17) the United Nations Security Council

5 adopted Resolution 808 on February 22, 1993, es6 tablishing a war crimes tribunal to prosecute per7 sons responsible for violations of international law in

8 the territory of the former Yugoslavia;

9 (18) the time has come for the United States

10 to advocate the establishment of a permanent inter11 national criminal court and to assist in the prepara12 tion of a code under which such a court can operate

13 and in the establishment of the court.

14 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

15 It is the sense of the Congress that the President,

16 acting through the Permanent Representative of the Unit17 ed States to the United Nations, should support the ef18 forts of the United Nations and the International Law

19 Commission to establish an international criminal court

20 with jurisdiction over violations of international law and

21 crimes of an international character, including war crimes,

22 acts of terrorism, and drug trafficking, and should provide

23 any assistance necessary to expedite the establishment of

24 such a court.
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1 SEC. 3. REQUIRED REPORT.

2 Not later than December 1, 1993, the President shall

3 submit to the Congress a detailed report in developments

4 relating to, and United States efforts in support of, the

5 establishment of an international criminal court.

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