ICC to Open Field Office in Georgia for Better Interaction with Local stakeholders

A year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized the Prosecutor to proceed with an investigation on crimes committed in and around South Ossetia in the summer of 2008, the ICC is to set up a Field Office in Georgia to foster communication with local authorities, media and the general public.

As the ICC process takes several years for all major phases, which include preliminary examinations, investigations, analyses, preparation and court proceedings, opening a Field Office in a country such as Georgia can usually take more than a year. However, Georgia seems to be an exception. From early 2017, the field office will take on responsibility for developing and maintaining relationships with key partners on the ground in order to assist various court actors in the execution of their roles in the field.

Nika Jeiranashvili, ICC Project Officer at OSGF (Open Society Georgian Foundation) recently moved to The Hague to lobby Georgia’s case with other NGOs at the Coalition for the ICC.

“We don’t want to have unrealistic expectations,” he says. “Georgia is new for ICC and ICC is new for Georgia- people don’t know it well and can hardly distinguish it from the Strasburg European Court of Human Rights. The process will take a while and thus communication is a key factor for managing expectations. The field office to open soon will facilitate the ICC process by providing useful information about local perceptions to The Hague headquarters.”

As ICC spoke person, Mr. Fadi El Abdallah informed Georgian media representatives at the ICC headquarters in The Hague this week, The ICC intends to launch the field office in early 2017 to establish regular and, more importantly, proper communication with Georgian authorities, media, legal associations and the local community, and to manage proper expectations about the outcome of the ICC process.”

On 27 January 2016, Pre-Trial Chamber I granted the Prosecutor's request to open an investigation proprio motu in the situation in Georgia in relation to crimes against humanity and war crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court in the context of an international armed conflict between 1 July and 10 October 2008.

The ICC, governed by the Rome Statute, entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries including Georgia. Russia did not ratify the agreement.

The ICC is the first permanent international criminal court, established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The ICC is an independent international organization and is not part of the United Nations system. It sits at The Hague in the Netherlands.

George Sharashidze, From The Hague