Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of signatories to the charter of the International Criminal Court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25165/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force on 1 July 2002 and to date has been ratified or acceded to by 100 states. An additional 43 states have signed the Statute, subject to ratification. The Rome Statute has been ratified by all but one of the EU Member States.

Together with our partners in the European Union, Ireland has been a consistent and strong supporter of the ICC, recognising it as an essential means to combating impunity for the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. This position has been recognised in the EU Common Position last updated in June 2003.

The 2003 Common Position commits the Union and its Member States to support the effective functioning of the Court, and to advance universal support for it by promoting the widest possible participation in the Rome Statute. In February 2004 a detailed Action Plan on the implementation of the 2003 Common Position was adopted under the auspices of the Irish Presidency of the EU.

Over the past six months the Austrian Presidency, on behalf of the EU, has carried out 19 demarches on the issue of the ICC, raising ratification of the Rome Statute with China, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Vietnam and Indonesia, amongst others. In addition to their efforts to promote ratifications, the EU and its Member States have been generous supporters of initiatives to promote the Court in third states, as well as to strengthen the capacity of states to cooperate with the Court. For example, in May of this year, Ireland participated in a two-day conference aimed at promoting ratification of the ICC among members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (an association comprising Russia and 11 other republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union). The conference, held in Salzburg, Austria, was attended by representatives from the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, all of which have yet to ratify the Rome Statute.