No Peace Without Justice congratulates Mr Osvaldo Zavala Giler on his election last Friday and looks forward to working with him in his new capacity when he officially takes up his mandate on 17 April 2023. Mr Zavala brings years of experience and expertise to his new role, together with a genuine commitment to the values inherent in the Rome Statute and, most importantly, to the victims and populations the Court is designed to serve.
Mr Zavala takes up his new position at a time of great challenge and great opportunity for the Court. The ICC continues to face political and perception challenges; while not as pointed as it has been in the past, such as during the political attacks it faced from the Trump administration, the Court’s legitimacy and relevance are constantly being tested. An essential element of safeguarding the ICC’s integrity lies in ensuring victims and affected populations are engaged and informed about the Court’s work, such as through outreach, strong field presence and clear situation completion strategies so stakeholders know what to expect and can hold the Court accountable.
Likewise, the Court continues to face resource constraints, with a budgetary process that does not lead to the Court having the necessary resources to discharge its mandate. Indeed, there is a need to reconsider the budget process as a whole so it is less about numbers and more about principles like independence, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. This will continue to be a major challenge in the coming years and will require strong and steady leadership to make progress.
At the same time, the ICC has benefitted from a strong show of support from its States Parties, and from other States, particularly over the past 12 months. During this time, ICC States Parties, civil society and other stakeholders have leveraged the increased focus on the possibilities of the ICC for the situation in Ukraine to state their support for the Court in the other situations on which it is working, including the recently re-opened investigations on the situations in Afghanistan and the Philippines. This all provides the ICC with the opportunity to demonstrate its independence, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability with a renewed and reinvigorated focus.
NPWJ stands ready to work with Mr Zavala in support of his achieving his mandate and taking advantage of the opportunities before the ICC to strengthen its work and its positive impact, particularly on victims and populations in situation and preliminary examination countries.
