Impossible to influence Azerbaijan through ratification of the Rome Statute, lawyer Alexander Tolmachev says

Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Lawyers’ Union Alexander Tolmachev commented to Alpha News on the decision of the Armenian National Assembly to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to the lawyer, in terms of international law, ratification of the Rome Statute and recognition of all decisions of the International Criminal Court have nothing to do with the benefit or harm of Armenia in relation to Azerbaijan.

“It is impossible to exert pressure on someone or something with this. If Armenia wants to influence Azerbaijan like that, it will not work, because to this day it has not been specifically stated that the President of Azerbaijan or any of its officials are involved in the death or mass death of people, that is, this cannot be proven by anyone yet. This is a kind of political trade, I would say, an attempt to put on a brave face. This issue is not being resolved in this way at all; it is being resolved in a different political way,” Tolmachev said.

The lawyer notes that legally Armenia does not gain anything from the adoption of this statute.

“Armenia will not win anything. Only those lawyers will benefit who will be paid for lobbying. That’s all, I have a feeling that in general this is a lobbying story rather than something useful for the law,” the expert concluded.