Summary: December 6, 2000: Statement by Mr. Alexis Lamek. Financing of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (New York)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union. This declaration is endorsed by the Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), the other associated countries (Cyprus and Malta), and the EFTA countries, which are members of the European Economic Area (Liechtenstein).
The European Union would first of all like to thank Mr. Warren Sach, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, for introducing the Secretary-General's report and Ambassador Mselle for introducing the ACABQ report. It would like to take this opportunity of stressing how important it is that the budget documents we are working on should be published in good time; in this connection it will be recalled that, at its previous session, the General Assembly did ask for these documents to
be made available by 1 October.
The European Union observes that the International Criminal Tribunals have both been very active this year, as can be seen from the number of trials that have opened and the number of judgments handed down. It welcomes this encouraging development. The European Union is also pleased to note the efforts made to comply with the recommendations of the Expert Group tasked with evaluating the efficiency of the activities and operation of the two Tribunals. It is especially pleased at the measures
taken by each of the two Tribunals to contain the growth of expenditure in relation to legal aid and to the automatic appointment of defense counsel when these are of an improper nature or a delaying tactic. We feel that this is an approach worth pursuing.
The efforts that have been made and the progress that has been achieved will help the Tribunals to utilize the resources allocated to them to the maximum and thus become more efficient. This is the earnest desire of the European Union, which attaches the utmost importance to the task entrusted to these two bodies, which are facing many challenges in terms of workload and case management. Nevertheless, there are still a number of points in need of clarification, to which the European Union
intends to return, in a constructive spirit, during the informal consultations.
The European Union has taken note with great interest of President Jorda's report on the operation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the reforms he proposes, which are designed to help the Tribunal to fulfill its remit within a reasonable time frame. The primary aim is to ensure the proper administration of justice, but also to limit the overall cost of the Tribunal's activities. The Security Council last week adopted amendments to the Tribunals' Rules of
Procedure, which will allow these reforms to go ahead, and the European Union hopes that they will be put in hand without delay, as from the next financial year.
The European Union observes that President Jorda's report also contains some ideas as to how the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is likely to develop in the medium and long term. We feel that this approach could usefully be followed by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Moreover, this is an approach which could be taken further. The Tribunals are no longer just getting into gear but are running more predictably, making planning easier.
In this connection, the Union has noted that the Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda already launched an action plan at the beginning of the year regarding the legal support provided for the Chambers. It will be most interested to know what results this achieved. In any event, we feel this approach should be continued and applied on a wider basis, since the Union is persuaded that planning to improve the management and, especially, the predictability of the resources
required by the two Tribunals, particularly the human resources, would be both relevant and useful.
Furthermore, the Union is interested to note the prospect of bi-annual budgets, raised in an ACABQ report, and feels that this idea is worth pursuing without delay. As the ACABQ points out, this would have a favorable impact on personnel management.
The European Union supports the ACABQ's recommendations and feels, like the Advisory Committee, that the use of the resources already approved should be subject to thorough scrutiny before asking for any extra resources. In this connection, it endorses the Advisory Committee's approach of not recommending the creation of new posts in departments where there are already a large proportion of vacancies.
Incidentally, the European Union would like to express its agreement with the ACABQ's opinion on judges' travel and absences, to the effect that, for both Tribunals, legal work takes priority over public relations.
Any increase in the Tribunals' resources must always go hand-in-hand with an improvement in terms of results and efficiency. The European Union once again welcomes the efforts made during this year, but feels that there is probably still more that could be done, particularly as regards coordination between the various bodies, which must work together to make the Tribunals more efficient.
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