The 24th session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened today, 1 December 2025, at the World Forum Convention Center in The Hague, the Netherlands. The session is scheduled from 1 to 6 December 2025.
At this session, States Parties to the Rome Statute, observer States, invited States, international and regional organizations and representatives from civil society will discuss key challenges facing the Statute. States Parties will also adopt resolutions on important issues pertaining to the functioning of the Court and the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), including on their respective budgets and on cooperation. The Assembly will also elect one member of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims and five members of the Committee on Budget and Finance.
This year, 25 Ministerial level speakers from States Parties are scheduled to address the Assembly in the first days, emphasizing support for the Court.
H.E. Päivi Kaukoranta, President of the Assembly of States Parties, stated: "2025 has been challenging for the Court and to the Rome Statute System. It is important that we stand in solidarity with the Court and its officials. The Assembly of States Parties continues to work in support of the Court and in defence of the principles and values enshrined in the Rome Statute, bearing in mind that international justice is not just possible - it is imperative."
The President of the Court, Judge Tomoko Akane, emphasised: "The achievements of the Court this year speak for us unequivocally. In the face of the unprecedented levels of workload and amidst the attacks against it, the Court is acting expeditiously and efficiently in all stages of proceedings: investigations, pre-trial, trial, appeals and reparations. ... We must remember that we are all working for a cause, a grand albeit unseeable cause. We must continue to work for this cause, to provide hope for humanity, and to realise a more just world that is free from atrocities, where future generations peacefully coexist."
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said: "In the world we face today - scarred by conflict, disinformation, and impunity - the ICC is more relevant than ever before. Despite threats, there is one certainty: we will remain focused and committed to vindicating the core truth that all lives have equal value under international law."
The Chair of the Board of Directors of the TFV, Andres Parmas, stated : "The judicial proceedings of the Court have advanced and expanded and thus the work of the Trust Fund needs to be understood by our critics and our supporters alike - as being at the heart of the aspirations of the Rome Statute. For too long, efforts of redress to victims have been treated as an 'add on' to accountability, almost as an afterthought in our words and deeds about the ICC internationally and domestically. … In approving the budget necessary for the Court to do its work, in protecting the Court from threats, and in providing necessary contributions to the Trust Fund for Victims, you are declaring to your own nations, and to the world, that norms and people matter, that security matters and that peace matters. "
The ICC, governed by the Rome Statute, is the world's first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, namely crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and the crime of aggression. In accordance with article 112 of the Rome Statute, the Assembly is the management oversight and legislative body of the ICC. It is composed of representatives of the States that have ratified and acceded to the Rome Statute.
Statements delivered at the 24th Session of the Assembly of States Parties
Report on the activities of the International Criminal Court
Relevant Documentation for the 24th ASP session
