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> Delivering on the promise of a fair, effective and independent Court > Victims Trust Fund

The Victims Trust Fund (VTF) forms an essential part of the Court’s innovative mandate towards victims and is an acknowledgment that justice for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes cannot be met by retribution alone. In his welcoming remarks to the Fund’s Directors, Judge Philippe Kirsch, President of the ICC, said, “For the very first time in history, a possibility has been created to address the wrongs which have been committed through a claim for reparations against the individual convicted by an international criminal court, including an option to claim restitution, compensation and rehabilitation.”

The Victims Trust Fund is part of a series of unprecedented steps to fully acknowledge the rights and needs of victims. In particular, the Rome Statute of the ICC provides for victims’ active participation in the criminal justice process, and enables them to claim reparations from perpetrators. The independent Trust Fund complements these efforts, and its activities and projects will provide concrete means by which victims’ broader needs may be addressed.

At its Fourth Session, which took place from 28 November to 3 December 2005, the Assembly of States Parties to the Court adopted the Regulations of the Trust Fund for Victims. The Regulations explain how the Board of Directors, composed of eminent personalities, will operate and set out in detail how the Board will deal with the receipt, management and use of funds. They also provide for a Trust Fund Secretariat to assist and support the Board with the day-to-day operation of the Trust Fund.

An online archive of the public ceremony of the Board of Directors of the Victims Trust Fund is available on the Court's website.

To find out more about making a donation to the Trust Fund, please contact the Victims Participation and Reparations Unit of the Court at: trust.fund@icc-cpi.int

Contributions in US dollars may be made to: ICC Victims Trust Fund, JP Morgan Chase Bank, New York, USA

Contributions in Euro may be made to: ICC Victims Trust Fund, Fortis Bank, The Hague, The Netherlands

Background on the Victims Trust Fund

For more information, please contact Isabelle Olma at olma@coalitionfortheicc.org.