During the first week of December, The Hague regularly hosts the annual meeting of the International Criminal Court. This year there were a few main issues on the agenda, but biggest of all – as always – is the court’s budget for the year. 

This year the court asked for a more than 10% increase over last year. But ended up with a lot less. Despite the huge security challenges after a massive hack.

Meanwhile, the court’s President pointed out the existential threat the court faces from one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. And the president of the Assembly of the States Parties outlined how they had decided to tackle allegations of sexual misconduct by the prosecutor. 

But all that was kind of swept away by the latest news out of Syria. We are keeping a close eye, because there are so many justice initiatives and cases connected to the repressive Assad regime, recently swept away. That’s definitely going to be a theme for 2025.