LAHORE, Dec 7: International Criminal Court head Justice Phillipe Kirsch said here on Wednesday that Iraq’s former president Saddam Hussein could not be tried by the ICC because he was facing charges pertaining to a period prior to the establishment of the court in Hague in 1998.

Answering questions at a ceremony sponsored by the Research Society of International Law (RSIL), the ICC president said the charges against Saddam Hussein were within the purview of the ICC, but it could not take up the case because of the time factor.

Mr Kirsch explained in detail the factors in establishment of the ICC, its working and impact on societies across the world. He said the court had now come to stay as an independent judicial forum which commanded world wide respect. About the reason why the ICC had now become an influential institution, he said it did not accept any dictates and refused to yield under pressure of big powers.

The judge, who is a Canadian national, said the ICC was established under a treaty in Rome in 1998 with the objective to serve as a deterrent against anti-humanity crimes, fight out terrorism and safeguard the interests of the weaker sections of society.

The reason of its establishment, he said, was that the 20th century witnessed an alarming rise in crimes against humanity and the world wanted a forum to take cognizance of such brutalities. Although the treaty was signed by 139 of more than 200 states while the US, Saudi Arabia and Iraq did not endorse the idea, the ICC statutes provided that signatory states were under an obligation to accept the ICC’s findings.

He said the ICC was not under the discipline of even the UNO although it had links with the world body. He quoted the court’s findings in Uganda, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, and said these were formulated after impartial probes into complaints by non-state organizations.

The ICC chief said the strength of the court’s prosecution was one of its hallmarks. It received some 1,600 complaints from all over the world and accepted only 20 per cent of these on merit, other complaints were either not within the ICC jurisdiction or invited interference in internal matters of sovereign states. He said the court had its jurisdiction over individuals, or groups of individuals, and states were out of its purview.

According to him, the ICC was yet to give a decision although it had conducted a number of investigations. For this purpose, the court’s field offices had also been established in many countries, he added.

Most of the questions put to judge Kirsch expressed reservations about the ICC working, particularly when its jurisdiction was not extended to the entire world and the absence of a mechanism for implementation of the findings by the country concerned. Similarly, the questioners feared if the court could proceed in the absence of a universal definition of terrorism. The ICC criteria of accepting and rejecting complaints was also a grey area. The questioners also showed reservation on the USA not being a signatory to the Rome Treaty, saying this factor alone might curtail the ICC powers and jurisdiction.

RSIL president advocate Ahmar Bilal Soofi said in his welcome speech that Pakistan badly lacked expertise in international law.

Punjab Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) said that the poor nations must now be associated with the global policy-making process to protect their political and financial interests.