I.P.O. Information Service

Report on Lockerbie appeal submitted to United Nations

Termination of I.P.O. observer mission

Vienna, 27 March 2002/P/RE/17558c-is

The International Progress Organization today submitted Professor Hans Koechler's report, dated 26 March 2002, on the appeal proceedings at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands (Lockerbie Court) to the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council, to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Professor Koechler was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as international observer of the Lockerbie trial on the basis of Security Council resolution 1192 (1998). He observed the proceedings of the original trial from May 2000 until  January 2001. His report on the Lockerbie trial issued on 3 February 2001 initiated a worldwide debate on the problems of international criminal justice and was discussed in the British Parliament.

Professor Koechler observed the appeal proceedings at Kamp van Zeist in the Netherlands from the first procedural hearing on 15 October 2001 until the announcement of the Appeal Court's decision on 14 March 2002.

The comprehensive evaluation of the Lockerbie trial presented by him at the end of the appeal proceedings raises fundamental issues of international criminal justice in the context of power politics and deals specifically with the human rights aspects of the case, particularly in regard to the requirements of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Professor Koechler's observer mission at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands is terminated with the submission of the final report to the United Nations. As far as the human rights aspects of the case are concerned, Professor Koechler will continue to follow the matter, particularly as regards an eventual involvement of the European Court of Human Rights.

The International Progress Organization, through its Committee of Legal Experts on UN Sanctions against Libya, will continue to follow the developments of the dispute between the United States, the United Kingdom and Libya at the International Court of Justice. In the light of the conclusions drawn from the conduct of the Lockerbie Court, the organization will further deal with the issue of the development of international criminal justice.

Professor Koechler's report will be posted on the homepage of the International Progress Organization within two weeks.

END/Report on Lockerbie appeal submitted to United Nations /27-03-2002/P/RE/17558c-is