Rome Launch of ‘Quality Control in Preliminary Examination’

Norwegian Ambassador Margit Tveiten hosted a dinner in her residence in Rome on United Nations Day, 24 October 2018, on the occasion of the publication of Quality Control in Preliminary Examination: Volumes 1 and 2 by the Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher. In the presence of prominent Italian international lawyers (including Judges Silvana Arbia, Roberto Bellelli and Fausto Pocar), officials, and diplomats in Rome, Ambassador Tveiten (who previously served as Legal Adviser of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) explained the importance Norway gives to continuous enhancement of quality control in core international crimes cases, including during preliminary examination. She linked the event to the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 

While honouring Professor Carsten Stahn, his co-editor of the two volumes, who could not be present, CILRAP Director Morten Bergsmo made a presentation on how work-processes in fact-rich cases such as war crimes tend to become overly time-consuming and costly, both at preliminary examination, investigation and case-preparation stages. This can undermine political support for accountability processes. He argued that these work-processes are under-researched compared with a) the standard questions of criminal procedure and evidence, and b) the disproportionately high cost generated by preliminary examination and investigation.

With 1,470 pages by 47 authors in 35 chapters, Bergsmo expressed the hope that the two new volumes will contribute towards increased awareness of preliminary examinations and their bottlenecks, in both international and national criminal jurisdictions, and lead to improvements. He stressed that preliminary examinations should not be extended beyond what is required to assess whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed to an investigation. More important than regulatory measures, a genuine culture of quality control should be nourished in agencies that undertake preliminary examinations.