It is with great sadness that the International Criminal Court (ICC) learned of the passing of Emma Bonino, on 11 September 2026. The International Criminal Court and the cause of international criminal justice owe much to her relentless commitment to the rule of law as a condition for the peaceful coexistence of all peoples.
Always ahead of her time, as a leader of civil society organisations and national and multilateral institutions, for more than half a century Emma Bonino defended civil and political rights and the rights of women and girls globally with the courage of her convictions. Choosing action over rhetoric, she had a rare ability to peacefully rally people around universal causes, uniting them across political lines and borders and giving them the drive to act. One of them was international criminal justice. She has inspired generations of thinkers, advocates, politicians, diplomats, lawyers and countless others, and made an unforgettable contribution to the creation of the United Nations tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and later to the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
That commitment never wavered. At the 1998 Rome Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, as EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, she called on States to act, insisting that " time has come to break the cycle of violence, to put an end to impunity and to demonstrate the international community's resolve to assert the primacy of the rule of law ". Her determination was decisive in the adoption of the Rome Statute, turning the promise of accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes into a lasting institution - ours.
Fifteen years later, as Italy's Foreign Minister, she was still making that same case, reminding States of the importance of international cooperation and affirming that the Court's establishment and principles " are, today more than ever, a historic achievement for the international community that must not be called into question ".
Emma Bonino's intelligence and dedication will be missed. Her energy and commitment will continue to resound in the years to come in the actions of all those who consider human dignity as a founding principle of human civilisation.
