THE ICC has put its members on notice that it may have to close down some of its cases if they slash a proposed Sh14.4 billion budget for next year.
The court announced that it will have to close “two or three” of its “situations” if the budget is reduced. A situation refers to the place or country where the court is conducting investigations and where cases have been opened.
Currently the court has opened 18 cases out of 8 situations. The 8 situations are Uganda, Congo DRC, Darfur, Central Africa Republic, Kenya, Libya, Ivory Cost and Mali. Of the 8 situations, Congo has the highest number of cases- 6. In Darfur they are 5, Libya 2 and Kenya 2.
“Without increased resources, the Court cannot achieve the success it hopes for, and that the international community, victims and affected communities expect.
As a result, the impact for the Court of bringing the 2014 proposed programme budget down to the 2013 approved level would be the equivalent of having to stop all of its operations in two or three of the situations actively under the jurisdiction of the Court,” the court said yesterday.
Already, the budget committee has slashed the budget from Sh15 billion through cost cutting measures. It is now warning the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) against further slashing during an upcoming November meeting.
The current budget for the court is Sh13.2 billion. The committee says if the budget is slashed, the ASP would in effect deprive the court of the ability to “ensure the level of quality and efficiency required for investigative, prosecutorial and judicial activities.”
The committee estimates that the two Kenyan cases will gobble approximately Sh1 billion. The Sh1 billion includes Sh546 million on field operations and Sh386 million in court spending when the trials start.
“Bringing the 2014 proposed programme budget down to the 2013 approved level or any further substantive reductions to the 2014 proposed programme budget is not possible without seriously impacting on the number of preliminary examinations, investigations and judicial proceedings carried by the Court,” the committee said.
The registry will take the most of the budget at Sh7.8 billion, up from Sh7.4 billion this year. The prosecution is second taking up Sh4.1 billion up from Sh3.2 billion. Judiciary has however suffered a slash from Sh1.2 billion this year to Sh1.1 billion next year.
The same case applies with the secretariat of the ASP whose budget this year is Sh339 million but which has been reduced to Sh326 million.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment