AUSTRALIA JOINS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WHICH COMMENCES JULY 1

SYDNEY, June 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Australia has agreed to ratify the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is set to begin operations July 1 this year. Conservatives in the government fought the proposal but were unsuccessful.  Commentators have observed that Prime Minister John Howard will be cited for his failure to live up to his promise to “serve the national interest and certainly not compromise Australian sovereignty”.  In April, US Senator Jesse Helms warned against the ICC in an op-ed published in the Washington Times.  “It needs to be understood, however, that the ICC is without supervision or oversight. And, most alarmingly, this new court will claim jurisdiction over citizens of countries that have not agreed to be members of it. The ICC’s jurisdiction will not be controlled or limited by any country’s constitution or legislature. It will answer only to itself. This is not responsible government. History teaches us that unchecked power is quickly and inevitably abused. Our Founding Fathers correctly identified limits on government power as the key to protecting individual liberties. This is a bedrock norm that should be applied to all international and national institutions,” wrote Helms.  See LifeSite on pro-life concerns about the ICC:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/interim/2002/may/02internationalcriminal.html   See the coverage in The Age and Helms’ op-ed:  https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/19/1023864456953.html https://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20020411-8454376.htm