At its Cabinet meeting today, the Armenian government approved the draft law on the adoption of a declaration ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court signed on July 17, 1998 and retroactively recognizing, in accordance with Article 12, Section 3 of the Statute, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The matter was presented by the Minister of Justice, Grigor Minasyan, who noted, in particular: "The objective of the statute is the establishment of the International Criminal Court which shall examine the most serious crimes specified in the statute to rule out the impunity of those who committed them, and to contribute to the prevention of such crimes."

In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan asked Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the Government of Armenia Representative on International Legal Matters, whether if the aforesaid statute is ratified, Armenia will be able to open an international criminal case regarding Azerbaijan’s military aggression of the sovereign territories of Armenia.

Kirakosyan gave a positive answer, and noted that it does not matter that Azerbaijan has not ratified that statute because it is about the crimes that took place on the territory of Armenia.