International Law and Historic Responsibility
The International Criminal Court
Enlarge image
International Criminal Court, Den Hague
(© picture-alliance/ dpa)
Everywhere around the world justice is a prerequisite for internal peace. A quantum leap in the development of international law was taken with the adoption of a statute for the International Criminal Court.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted in Rome on 17 July 1998 by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court.
111 states have already ratified the Statute, including all EU member states. The Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002, as the stipulated number of 60 ratifications had been obtained on 11 April 2002. The Federal Republic of Germany made a point of signing the Statute on 10 December 1998, the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and ratified it on 11 December 2000. Information on the current ratification status and on the work of the ICC can be found on the websites of the ICC and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), a global network of over 2500 non-governmental organisations.
Compensation for injustice committed in the National Socialist era
From the very outset, the Federal Republic of Germany attached special priority to the process of providing moral and financial compensation for the wrongs committed by the National Socialist regime. This task has lost none of its importance for the German Government to this very day.
Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”
Enlarge image
Holocaust Memorial in Berlin
(© picture-alliance/ Arco Images G)
By setting up the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” in 2000, a comprehensive settlement to the question of recompense for forced labour was finally also reached. Once a year the Federal Foreign Office informs the German Bundestag of the situation regarding legal security for German companies in connection with the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”.
For more information please consult:
International Tracing Service (ITS) - Bad Arolsen
The archives of the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen document the persecution and exploitation of millions of civilian victims of National Socialism between 1933 and 1945, as well as the fate of several million refugees in Germany immediately after the war. It serves the victims and their families by providing documentary evidence of what happened to them.
Legal status of forces in Germany and abroad
When discussing the status of military forces a distinction must be drawn between the legal status of foreign forces in Germany and the legal status of the German armed forces abroad.
Maintenance and upkeep of German war graves
Remembering the victims of violence and war and appealing for peace through this remembrance is a key concern of the German Government. As a part of this, the German War Graves Commission works on behalf of the Government both within Germany and abroad.
