At the 2020 American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Meeting, held virtually, the ABA House of Delegates adopted policy “urg[ing] all national governments to observe, respect, and protect the independence of the International Criminal Court;” and “condemn[ing] threats by governments to the International Criminal Court and its officers and personnel in the performance of their duties.”
The policy adopted follows previous statements by ABA Past Presidents Bob Carlson and Judy Perry Martinez urging the US government to rescind and refrain from further sanctions against legal professionals working at the International Criminal Court. The ABA has a long historyof policy support for the International Criminal Court as a crucial venue for accountability for atrocity crimes, and has in the past encouraged the United States to engage cooperatively with the Court’s investigations and proceedings.
Read the full Resolution 114 and its accompanying report here.
Part of the Atrocity Crimes Initiative, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Project is an independent initiative of the ABA Center for Human Rights and Criminal Justice Section that advances international criminal justice and US-ICC relations through advocacy, education and practical legal assistance. For more information about the ICC Project, visit its website.