(Return tabled) Question No. 1306 Hon. Irwin Cotler: With regard to the crisis in Syria: (a) what criteria does the government use to determine (i) whether to intervene, (ii) when to intervene, (iii) the nature and scope of any intervention; (b) who makes the determination in (a) and how; (c) what sources does the government rely upon in determining (a); (d) what legal obligations are considered with respect to (a) and in what ways does the Responsibility to Protect doctrine factor into decision making under (a); (e) in what ways has the government evaluated its obligations under the Responsibility to Protect doctrine with respect to Syria; (f) when were such evaluations done, by whom, and with what outcome; (g) have the criteria by w ...[+++]hich the government determines its official policy towards the crisis in Syria changed since 2012; (h) when the Minister of Foreign Affairs publicly expressed his support for an indictment of Bashar al-Assad by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2012, was this the position of the government and does it remain the position of the government that al-Assad ought to be indicted by the ICC; (j) with respect to Canada’s decision not to sign on to the request of 57 countries made in January, 2013, to ask the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC, did Canada support this request; (k) with respect to (j), when, why, how, and by whom were the determinations made in this regard, and when was Canada approached to join in this endeavor and by what means; (l) what criteria were applied in determining whether to support this effort; (m) are there any specific policies or directives within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade that guide decision-making with regard to Canadian intervention in situations of humanitarian crisis; (n) was the decision not to sign the Swiss-led letter asking the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC made by the Minister of Fore ...

The Review Conference adopted amendments to the Rome Statute, in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 2 thereof to define the crime of aggression and to establish conditions under which the ICC could exercise jurisdiction with respect to that crime; adopted amendments to the Rome Statute to expand the jurisdiction of the ICC to three additional war crimes when committed in armed conflicts not of an international character; and decided to retain, for the time being, Article 124 of the Rome Statute.

The EIDHR has, for example, supported the work of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court which draws together around 1,000 organisations in fighting for the ratification of the Rome Statute and putting in place the requisite knowledge and training to ensure that the ICC functions as effectively as possible.

Coalition for an International Criminal Court-Election of ICC Judges

The United Nations will contribute half of the initial startup costs and will contribute financially when specific cases are mandated by the security council.

All member states of the ICC will pay a fee for the creation, operation and management of the ICC. The United Nations will contribute half of the initial start-up costs and will continue financially when specific cases are mandated by the Security Council to the ICC.