Foreign Affairs committee  I wasn't clear on that. All of the 123 states are obligated, as a matter of treaty law, to co-operate with the court. What happened was that I was in Cox's Bazar on the 24th, and the minute I came back to The Hague, I invited states to accelerate the opening of an investigation by their referring the matter to me.

Foreign Affairs committee  As I understand, it is completely separate. The ICC, as an institution, can award reparations in relation to people who are convicted. The registry of record I think is in relation to war damages that we've normally seen, in other historical scenarios, come at the end of the conflict as part of a peace agreement.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, in relation to the second, I'm afraid it's the same answer—that I don't comment on communications in real time. There's a process in terms of communication, and I have to cut my suit according to the cloth we have, based upon a number of different situations but also jurisdiction.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think it's not helped. Richard Goldstone, the first chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav and Rwandan tribunals, was very fond of saying that politics lies at the centre and the margins of international law, and if one doesn't understand the politics, one will not be able to understand and grasp the law.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think everybody, from Nuremberg onward, realized that the crime of aggression is a serious crime. It subsumes within it parts of many of the conflicts but not always. Rwanda had an internal armed conflict. In a hundred days, there was no crime of aggression. It was Rwandese against Rwandese.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think the police in Canada keep talking about what the law is. Their job is to investigate and to arrest people, and to bring them before the courts, which decide. Generally, my approach is different from my predecessor. There are many other parts—necessary humility, but also pragmatism.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  What I can say is that there can never be enough Canadians. Therefore, I don't feel surrounded; I feel supported. The next point is that I've spent quite some time, and I have some fantastic special advisers.... We launched a new policy last Christmas at the Assembly of State Parties on gender persecution.

Foreign Affairs committee  Can I just add one thing, if you don't mind, Honourable Oliphant? Partnerships are key. In addition to many other new initiatives, for example, for first time in the history of the court, we've joined a joint investigative team with seven countries under the auspices of Eurojust.

Foreign Affairs committee  If I can back up, before Venezuela there was a preliminary examination open for 17 years in Colombia. At the end of 2021, within a few months of becoming a prosecutor, I went to Bogotá and signed an agreement with President Duque in which I closed the preliminary examination but didn't abandon Colombia.

Foreign Affairs committee  I said that my objectives this year, in addition to all the other missions I'm going on, include Palestine, the DRC and Afghanistan. Afghanistan is proving, obviously, to be extremely difficult, and ever more so, but I haven't given up. I am in discussions to go with Israel and the Palestinian authorities.

Foreign Affairs committee  The presumption of the Rome Statute is that the activities of the court are funded through the regular budget. We've tried for a number of years. I tried and failed last Christmas and the Christmas before. I really failed as an advocate, because we didn't get the resources we wanted.

Foreign Affairs committee  Every state party, as a matter of international law, signs up to the whole of the treaty. Part 9 of the treaty makes it incumbent upon states parties to co-operate with the court. There are judicial orders that are issued not by me but by independent judges elected by those very states.

Foreign Affairs committee  I tend not to listen to rumours. I think there are a lot of rumours about my office, about me and about everybody, probably, in this room. We know it's difficult and dangerous to listen much to rumours. What I will say is that, since I was elected prosecutor, I have tried to re-engage with the continent of Africa.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think you'll understand that, as with law enforcement in Canada, we don't telegraph investigations in advance, because the investigations have to be discreet. There may be witness protection issues and all the rest of it. You're quite right; we have jurisdiction in most of the countries of the Sahel region and in Sudan and Libya, which were referred by the Security Council.