EU Presidency Statement - Special Court for Sierra Leone

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the Stabilization and Association Process Countries, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, the Associated Countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and the EFTA countries, members of the European Economic Area, Liechtenstein and Norway, declare that they align themselves with this statement.

I thank the Secretariat for its report A/58/733 regarding a request for a subvention to the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the ACABQ for its comments on the request as contained in A/58/7/Add.30. The European Union endorses the proposal to give $16.7 million commitment authority to the Court.

The European Union acknowledges the important role the Special Court is playing within Sierra Leone to bring to justice those most responsible for the atrocities committed in the conflict in that country and its significance to the efforts to fight impunity in the region. The fact that the Court is located in Freetown makes it unique amongst the currently constituted international judicial bodies in being based in the country where the crimes were committed. It is therefore essential for peace and stability within Sierra Leone and the region that it not be allowed to fail through insufficient funds from the international community. In this respect we support the Secretary-General's proposal for a one-time ad hoc subvention to cover funding shortfalls in the remainder of 2004 and - if necessary - also in 2005. This is an exceptional case and the international community should reappraise the whole financing of these international institutions.

As experience with UN International Criminal Tribunals has shown, accurate forecasting of such bodies is a difficult matter. In future, the international community should secure a sound basis for the financing of international courts before their establishment. The judicial process cannot be fully directed or controlled by administrative oversight bodies. However, we urge all organs of the Court within the constraints imposed by the judicial process, to respect the time-limited mandate established by the Security Council and to make every effort to complete their work within the 3 years envisaged and the allocated budget. Given that the proposed subvention has made some contingency provision for possible time overruns of the court, we trust that this request for a subvention will be a one-off case. The EU also concurs with the Secretary-General's view that the fundamental nature of the Court should not be altered. Every effort should therefore continue to be made to secure further voluntary funds and the EU appeals to the international community to redouble its efforts.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Cross-border issues in West Africa (25/3/2004)