No Peace Without Justice welcomes the election of the new six judges to the International Criminal Court

Brussels- Rome, 21 January 2009

No Peace Without Justice welcomes yesterday's election of the new six judges of the International Criminal Court, at the first resumption of the 7th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, being held from 19 to 22 January 2009 at UN headquarters in New York.

The six elected judges (Joyce Alouch, Kenya; Sanji Mmasenono Monageng, Botswana; Fumiko Saiga, Japan; Mohamed Shahabudden, Guyana; Cuno Tarfusser, Italy; and Christine Van Den Wyngaert, Belgium), who will serve for a period of 9 years starting from 11 March 2009, arrive at a crucial time in the history of the Court, where the different chambers are setting important procedural landmarks, about to commence the first trials and establishing jurisprudence for the future.

NPWJ welcomes the confirmation of the Italian presence in the International Criminal Court and at the same time would like to commend and extend its best wishes to the outgoing Italian Judge, Mauro Politi, for the excellent work carried out during his mandate.

No Peace Without Justice looks forward Italy finally adopting, nine years after its ratification of the ICC Rome Statute, its national implementing legislation, which is necessary to allow the Italian courts and authorities to cooperate with the Court in its investigations and prosecutions.