On 13 June 2017 the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, in co-operation with the Centre for International Law Research and Policy (CILRAP) and other partners, inaugurated the international expert seminar on "Quality Control in Preliminary Examination" at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The opening remarks were given by Ambassador Martin Sørby (Norway), Judge LIU Daqun (Vice President, ICTY), Professor Morten Bergsmo (Peking University, CILRAP), Professor Carsten Stahn (Leiden University) and Eduardo Toledo (International Nuremberg Principles Academy).
The seminar was comprised of presentations by both practitioners and academics within the framework of the project, which is that the project "seeks to contribute to betterment, but it pushes no specific agenda of regulatory reform, be it in the form of procedural provisions, prosecution directives, or formal criteria. The project’s open inquiry may well conclude that prosecutorial discretion in preliminary examination should not be further curtailed by binding regulation, but rather that its exercise should be more vigilantly assessed by prosecutors, and monitored by civil society."
The first day of the seminar offered presentations around the practice of preliminary examinations: realities and constraints, as well as case studies and situation analysis and the normative framework of preliminary examinations. Participants were able to understand everyday struggles of practicioners at the ICC and the OTP when engaging in preliminary examinations. The second day was comprised of panels around the topics of transparency, co-operation and the participation in preliminary examinations. The interventions of the panelists were followed by opinions and questions from the audience consisting of practitioners, academics and students.
The concluding remarks made by Professor Carsten Stahn highlighted the most important moments of the meeting and promised to present the publication of the papers at the next Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court during autumn of 2017.
The Nuremberg Principles Academy is proud to participate in this project and to be able to share same values of the counterparts. The Academy firmly believes in the relevance of developing new tools to deal with new issues within the system of the International Criminal Court and to support all involved actors.
