ABSTRACT
The protection of the rights of the child arose in a number of contexts during the negotiation of the Statute of the International Criminal Court. One of the most innovative aspects of the Rome Statute is the protections afforded to victims and witnesses. Many of the provisions affording protections to victims and witnesses set out specific measures for the Court to take with respect to particularly vulnerable groups, such as women and children. The Rome Conference was not intended to be a codification exercise. This was particularly true with respect to the inclusion of crimes in the Statute. Nevertheless, advances in setting international humanitarian standards were achieved at Rome in a number of areas. During the Rome Conference, strenuous efforts were made to improve in the Statute the protections afforded children in Geneva Protocols and Convention on the Rights of the Child. The two principal issues were the age of conscription or enlistment and the use of children in hostilities.
