JUSTICE MINISTER SAYS CROATIA IS ADJUSTING ITS LEGISLATION TO ICC

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Hina) - Croatia is adjusting its legislation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) standards in order to be able to process war suspects on its own and thus practically exclude a possible activation of the court's jurisdiction, Croatian Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic said in New York on Monday. #L# The Croatian minister is taking part in the second Assembly of the ICC Rome Statute member-countries which is being held in the UN headquarters between September 8 and 12. Croatia is already adjusting its legislation in order to be able to implement the Rome Statute and it has established legal mechanisms which will harmonise Croatia's judiciary with the ICC standards, the minister said. This includes command responsibility and penalties, Anticevic Marinovic said. The Croatian official also pointed to the consequences of not recognising and not supporting the court. The United States does not recognise the court's jurisdiction, claiming that its citizens could be faced with politically motivated charges. The U.S. State Department is pressuring foreign governments to sign bilateral agreements which would grant immunity to U.S. citizens from being processed by the court. (hina) it