Introduction

1. The Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court held three meetings on 27, 28 and 29 November 2006. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser (Liechtenstein) served as Chairperson of the Special Working Group.

2. The Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties provided the substantive servicing for the Group.

3. The Special Working Group had before it the outcome of the informal intersessional meeting held in Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America, from 8 to 11 June 2006, contained in document ICC-ASP/5/SWGCA/INF.1.

4. At the first meeting of the Group, the Chairperson presented an overview of the report of the intersessional meeting and highlighted the productive nature of the discussions held in Princeton. He also recalled the decision of the Assembly of States Parties that the Special Working Group should conclude its work at least 12 months prior to the Review Conference and referred to the consultations held regarding the preparation of such a Conference. The Chairperson stressed the link between those discussions and the timetable of the Special Working Group and indicated that there may be a need to review the timetable of the Group if the Review Conference were to be held in 2010. He invited delegations to focus the discussion on the consideration of the report on the intersessional meeting of the Special Working Group and the timetable towards the Review Conference.