Montenegro terminates the agreement with the USA on the exemption of American citizens from the jurisdiction of the ICC

On September 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the United States of America in a verbal note that it was terminating the Bilateral Agreement with that country on the exemption of US citizens from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the Government announced.

By exchanging a verbal note with the USA, our country fulfilled the final benchmark in the negotiation chapter 31 with the European Union, it is written in the Information on the fulfillment of the final benchmarks in the areas of the legal acquis of the European Union, which refers to the negotiation chapters 7 - Intellectual property law, 10 - Information society and media , 20 – Industrial policy and entrepreneurship and 31 – Foreign, security and defense policy.

This information was adopted by the Government at yesterday's telephone session.

"Montenegro, as a signatory to the Rome Statute on the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), fully harmonizes its position with the Council Decision 2011/168/CFSP of March 21, 2011 and the EU Guiding Principles regarding the agreements of the signatory countries of the Rome Statute of the ICC- in and the United States of America regarding the conditions for the extradition of persons to the Court, supplementing the Conclusions of the Council on the International Criminal Court of September 30, 2002," the document reads.

"Montenegro has been a member of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court since 2001, when the Law on Confirmation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force (Official Gazette of the FRY, No. 5/2001). Montenegro is also a signatory state to the Agreement on Privileges and immunities of the International Criminal Court (APIC). Through the reform of the criminal legislation, Montenegro has succeeded in implementing the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which refer to the sanctioning of crimes of genocide, crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes," states the Government.

The bilateral agreement with the United States of America on the exemption of US citizens from the jurisdiction of the ICC was concluded by an exchange of verbal notes between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Embassy in Podgorica, and entered into force on September 19, 2007.

"Regarding this bilateral immunity agreement, in order to comply with the guidelines of the European Union regarding this issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs undertook diplomatic activities with the aim of terminating this agreement based on the model provided for in the bilateral agreement which is acceptable to both parties: the agreement is terminates by notifying the other party of the intention to terminate through a verbal note, and the termination takes effect one year after the aforementioned notification. a. In addition, on October 27, 2024, the Mission of Montenegro to the EU submitted a copy of the verbal note to the EC, as previously agreed," the information reads.