Justice, Rule of Law and Impunity

  • May 2018

    Rule of Law

    Monthly Forecast

    An open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security with an emphasis on the Council’s role in upholding international law within the context of peace and security is planned in May. The Secretary-General is expected to brief the Council, and Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, is expected to preside. No outcome is expected, but a note summarising the debate will be circulated to the wider membership.

  • November 2017

    International Court of Justice

    Monthly Forecast

    In November, the Security Council and General Assembly will elect five judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The judges will each serve a term of nine years commencing on 6 February 2018.

  • On Monday morning (8 May), Italy will chair an Arria-formula meeting on “International Cooperation in Criminal Matters within the Peace and Security Pillar: the Role of Central Authorities”, with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The meeting...

  • May 2017

    Libya

    Monthly Forecast

    In May, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will deliver her semi-annual briefing on recent developments concerning cases in Libya.

  • The UN Charter envisioned a symbiotic relationship between the Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the UN. However, the Council has scarcely made use of the ICJ as an instrument, or “tool”, in the exercise of its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. In its latest research report on the rule of law of 20 December 2016, Security Council Report examines the relationship between the Security Council and the ICJ, including options for enhancing that relationship to assist the Council in its work.

  • Security Council Report’s fourth report on the rule of law focuses on the relationship between the Security Council and the International Court of Justice.

  • Tomorrow afternoon, Council members will hold an informal interactive discussion with the AU Open-Ended Committee on the ICC (“the Committee”). The AU delegation will be led by the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Tedros Ghebreyesus, accompanied by Algeria, Burundi, Kenya, Nigeria, South...

  • 20 August 2015

    The Rule of Law

    Research Report

    This is SCR's third Cross-Cutting Report on the Rule of Law

  • 22 October 2014

    Working Methods Debate

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow morning (23 October), the Security Council will hold its fifth annual open debate on Council working methods. Ambassador María Cristina Perceval (Argentina), the chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions, will brief. , There...

  • The Hague – On Monday (11 August), Council members focused on justice and accountability issues as they engaged with representatives of the various international legal institutions headquartered in The Hague. They also received an update on the work of the...

  • June 2014

    In Hindsight: The Council and the ICC

    Monthly Forecast

    The Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) gives the Security Council a unique jurisdictional role. Article 13(b) of the Statute grants the Council the power, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, to refer situations in which certain crimes may have been committed to the ICC. Article 16 of the Statute, on the other hand, allows the Council to defer a situation for one year through a Chapter VII resolution, for reasons relating to the maintenance of international peace and security.

  • June 2014

    International Criminal Tribunals

    Monthly Forecast

    In June, the Security Council will hold its semi-annual debate on the ad hoc international criminal tribunals. The presidents and prosecutors of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are expected to brief the Council. 

  • Tomorrow (16 April), the Council will hold a briefing on “threats to international peace and security: prevention and fight against genocide”, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The briefers will be Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and...

  • Tomorrow (16 April), the Council will hold a briefing on “threats to international peace and security: prevention and fight against genocide”, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The briefers will be Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and...

  • In April, the Council will be briefed on the prevention of and fight against genocide to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Possible briefers are Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon or Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson. In addition, the Council may adopt a resolution on the prevention of genocide.