High Court judge and former Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson has been nominated by T&T as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC).Permanent representative to the UN ambassador Rodney Charles made the announcement in a statement on Thursday.The ICC was the first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
It was established in 1998 after an international campaign led by former prime minister and president Arthur NR Robinson. Henderson's nomination comes in the wake of the resignation from the ICC of Justice Anthony Carmona, who now serves as T&T's President.Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran, as a member of the Informal Ministerial Network (IMN) for ICC on Thursday joined with counterparts from several countries in adopting a new Declaration of Commitment to the ICC.
The meeting took place at the permanent mission in New York, US.The IMN is a grouping of foreign ministers who are committed to promoting and defending the Rome Statute of the ICC and defending the independence of the court.In the release, Dookeran said: "T&T, as a pioneer of the ICC, is of the view that the declaration we are adopting today is well balanced and re-emphasises certain entrenched principles of international law codified in the Rome Statute."
He said Henderson met all the criteria for election as a judge of the bench of "this noble institution" and asked for support for his candidacy.Henderson was appointed DPP in 2002 and joined the High Court bench in February 2011.
Charles' statement said more than 122 countries have ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC, which entered into force on July 1, 2002. The ICC has the mandate under the Rome Statute to bring to justice individuals, including national leaders accused of committing war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, including, ethnic cleansing, as well as the crime of aggression.
Charles said the declaration, among other things, called for greater attention to the primary purpose of the ICC which is to bring to "justice and provide reparations to victims of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community" and encourages all states to make voluntary contributions to the trust fund for victims."