The foreign relations of Finland are the responsibility of the president of Finland, who leads foreign policy in cooperation with the government. Implicitly the government is responsible for internal policy and decision making in the European Union. Within the government, preparative discussions are conducted in the government committee of foreign and security policy, which includes the Prime Minister and at least the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence, and at most four other ministers as necessary. The committee meets with the President as necessary. Laws concerning foreign relations are discussed in the parliamentary committee of foreign relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the foreign policy.
The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice, an organ of the United Nations that hears disputes between states.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of February 2024, 124 states are party to the statute. Among other things, it establishes court function, jurisdiction and structure.
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous state under the Russian Empire’s rule, Svinhufvud played a major role in the movement for Finnish independence. He was the one who presented the Declaration of Independence to the Parliament.
Theodor Meron, is an American-Israeli lawyer and judge. He served as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism). He served as President of the ICTY four times and inaugural President of the Mechanism for three terms (2012–19).
Helsinki is one of the 13 electoral districts of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. The district was established as Helsinki City in 1954 from parts of Uusimaa Province. It was renamed Helsinki in 1997. It is conterminous with the municipality of Helsinki. The district currently elects 23 of the 200 members of the Parliament of Finland using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2023 parliamentary election it had 546,375 registered electors.
The states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court are those sovereign states that have ratified, or have otherwise become party to, the Rome Statute. The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court, an international court that has jurisdiction over certain international crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes that are committed by nationals of states parties or within the territory of states parties. States parties are legally obligated to co-operate with the Court when it requires, such as in arresting and transferring indicted persons or providing access to evidence and witnesses. States parties are entitled to participate and vote in proceedings of the Assembly of States Parties, which is the Court's governing body. Such proceedings include the election of such officials as judges and the Prosecutor, the approval of the Court's budget, and the adoption of amendments to the Rome Statute.
The eighteen judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are elected for nine-year terms by the member-countries of the court. Candidates must be nationals of those countries and they must "possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices".
Marc Perrin de Brichambaut is a French career judge and diplomat. On 10 December 2014 he was elected a judge to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Until 30 June 2011 he was the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Song Sang-hyun is a South Korean lawyer and former President of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Hans-Peter Kaul was a German international law scholar and former diplomat and lawyer. From 11 March 2003 until 1 July 2014, he served as Judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. At the ICC, Kaul was President of the Pre-Trial Division from 2004 until March 2009 and again in 2014, and he was the Court's vice-president from 2009 to 2012. In 2014, he resigned from the ICC for health reasons but his condition became worse and he died on 21 July 2014.
Kuniko Ozaki, is a Japanese lawyer who served as judge of the International Criminal Court and the Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber V, constituted to try the cases against four Kenyan nationals. Specially-appointed professor of International Human Right Law at Chuo University Faculty of Law (2021-).
Gabrielle Louise McIntyre (Australian) is an international legal practitioner, jurist, and served as the Chairperson of the Seychelles' Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission.
Yrjö Olavi Väänänen was a Finnish diplomat. He was a Licentiate in Law and was an Ambassador in Bonn from 1973 to 1974, Head of the Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1974 to 1976, Undersecretary of State from 1976 to 1977, Ambassador in Copenhagen from 1977 to 1985, Counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1985–1986.
Pertti Juhani Torstila has had a long career in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland made by an official and a diplomat. Prior to his retirement, he served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 2006-2014.
Anu-Maija Saarela is a Finnish lawyer and diplomat. She has been Ambassador of Finland to Tel Aviv since 2016.
Kari Sulevi Lehtola was a Finnish lawyer, who became known as a major accident investigator and head of the Finnish Safety Investigation Authority.
Victor P. Tsilonis, also known as Viktor P. Tsilonis, is the CEO and principal legal counsel of NEWLAW law firm, an international jurist, and was Greece's nominee for the 2020 judicial elections of the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. He is also a member of the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA), currently serving as the Chairman of the ICCBA Professional Standards Advisory Committee, while formerly being ICCBA Vice President for Victims (2021-2022). In 2019-2020 he was also elected as a Vice President for Victims and served simultaneously as the Chairman of the Professional Standards Advisory Committee. Moreover, Tsilonis initially served a four-year term (2018–2022) as an elected ICC Disciplinary Board Alternate Member and has tried four disciplinary cases under this capacity, while now is a Member of the ICC Appeals Disciplinary Board (2023-2027).
Tomoko Akane is a Japanese jurist and a current judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Japan, as well as the president of the court.
Gocha Lordkipanidze is a Georgian lawyer, legal scholar and civil servant, who has been a judge of the International Criminal Court since 2021. He served as a deputy minister in the Ministry of Justice of Georgia from 2012 to 2020, and then as the Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2021.
