4/4 The December 2025 ASP session offers a vital moment for reflection. States Parties must demand transparency in the investigatory process and reform of the IOM’s mandate and resourcing. If the ASP fails to act, the institution it governs will erode from within.

3/4 These failures are particularly acute in the context of the most politically charged case before the ICC: the situation in Palestine. While the Court faces hostile backlash from major powers, the ASP’s inertia sends a dangerous message: that governance failures are tolerated

2/4 A key point: the ASP failed to ensure that the Court’s own oversight body, the IOM, was equipped to investigate senior officials. The Bureau decision introduces legal incoherence and risks due-process deficits.

1/4 Nearly a year after, no outcome has been made public. The Bureau only announced a possible publication in October but without transparency on process, timeline or mandate. This silence from States Parties undermines institutional accountability and credibility of the Court.

5/5 This means guaranteeing the legal framework is exclusively at work, defending the Court against US actions, funding properly all functions, and making cooperation an imperative. But the first step must be to provide the OTP with stable and lasting leadership.

4/5 Needles to say the ICC is at a critical moment, worse than 2019: an institutional crisis + an external existential threat by the US. If the spirit of Rome could be summoned, now would be the moment. States Parties are not bystanders, they have the obligation to govern.

3/5 More so, the minutes reveal the ASP President received a communication doubting the integrity of the process and calling the Bureau to guarantee due process for the Prosecutor. It is unclear if this refers to the Pan African Business Forum claims:

📍 www.myjoyonline.com/icc-prosecut...

2/5 The minutes also reveal the additional ad hoc Panel recruited to advise the Bureau how to proceed has met for the first time. It seems the full membership is still not complete. There have been indication multiple experts have declined to participate.

2/2 The report must be concluded soon for States Parties to take action, based on corroborated facts, wherever these lead. It is also proper for the ICC Bar Association’s Professional Standards Committee to assess if their Code of Conduct has been breached.

📍 www.iccba-abcpi.org/psac

The book comes from my PhD at Middlesex Uni under Prof Schabas. It goes over the negotiation history and practice of the ASP between 2002-21. The idea was simple: to offer a map how the governance body of the Court shaped its fortunes. I hope the book is useful for ICL practitioners!