Estonian president promulgates ratification of amendments to Rome Statute

TALLINN - Estonian President Alar Karis approved on Tuesday a law ratifying amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The main purpose of the amendments is to strengthen the provisions of the statute and create conditions for broader criminal accountability for war crimes. Of the five amendments, three are related to the use of prohibited weapons, one to military actions against civilians, and one amendment removes the transitional provision contained in Article 124.

The amendments expand the definition of weapons the use of which constitutes a war crime. They also broaden the definition of military action against civilians by prohibiting the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. Additionally, the amendments protect potential victims of war crimes.

Estonia has been a party to the statute, drafted in Rome on July 17, 1998, since the ratification of the statute on Dec. 5, 2001, and its international entry into force on July 1, 2002. As of February 2023, the statute had 123 participating states.