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Updates on Guatemala

31 Dec 2005

As of August 2005, the Executive as well as the President of the Congress had given their public support to the ICC. However, accession was not a priority for the Congress since there was no agreement among the majority.

On 3 August 2005, the President of the External Relations Commission of the Guatemalan Congress, Mr. Antonio Arenales Forno, and the Guatemalan Ambassador to The Netherlands, Mr. Alfonso Roberto José Matta Fahsen, visited the International Criminal Court. Mr. Arenales Forno and Mr. Matta Fahsen held talks with representatives of Chambers, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Office of the Registrar. Mr Arenales Forno also informed Court officials about Guatemala's progress with regards to accession to the Rome Statute. Discussions also focused on ways and means to implement legislation at the national level in order to allow Guatemala to cooperate with the Court.

On 26 March 2002, the Constitutional Court rendered its advisory opinion, and concluded that there is no incompatibility between the Guatemalan Constitution and the Rome Statute. There is reportedly strong resistance to ratification from conservative members of the government alliance.

In January 2002, the President of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo, asked for the opinion of the Constitutional Court with regard to the Rome Statute.

Previously, sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the Statute was examined in order to identify possible constitutional issues. Extradition and life imprisonment were identified as two issues that may raise the need for a constitutional amendment.