YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The State-Legal Affairs Committee of the Armenian Parliament is discussing the bill on ratifying the Rome Statute of the ICC introduced by the government.

Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia’s Representative on International Legal Matters, told lawmakers at the session that the government approved the bill on the Rome Statute earlier in December 2022.

“Approving the bill back then had to do with the Azerbaijani large-scale aggression against Armenia in 2022, and a number of grave crimes committed during the aggression. You remember the horrendous killings of Armenian troops near Lake Sev and other war crimes,” Kirakosyan said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to cover several crimes and hold to account perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and military aggression.

“Regrettably, the need for this bill today is again substantiated with the developments taking place today and tens of thousands of our compatriots of Nagorno-Karabakh are being displaced and are crossing into Armenia. I think that this is also within the jurisdiction of the Rome Statute,” Kirakosyan said.

The goal of ratifying the Rome Statute is to initiate a new additional international legal mechanism to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its crimes, he said.

In case of ratification by parliament, the Rome Statute will take effect within 60 days.