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ases of violations of norms of international humanitarian law to the competent authorities, as well as indicating the appropriate remedial actions based on proposals from line ministries;  Promoting international cooperation, including with other national commissions on international humanitarian law. The general objectives are complemented by specific ones, namely:  Disseminating the norms of international humanitarian law within the Armed Forces and all other national structures with responsibilities in this field, as well as within the civil society;  Achieving an efficient communication and an optimal information flow on IHL-related topics;  Developing the relationship of the National Commission on International Humanitarian Law with the national authorities; 1 Approved by Decision of the Prime Minister of Romania no. 298 of 17 December 2007 10  Adopting measures regarding the protection of cultural property in case of armed conflict;  Providing adequate protection to civilians, women, children and disadvantaged persons in case of armed conflict;  Striving to ensure adequate resources to achieve the objectives set out by the Strategy;  Undertaking actions in support of promoting the international humanitarian law. The necessary measures to implement the above-mentioned objectives are taken at the level of the ministries with responsibilities in this area and included in an annual Action Plan elaborated by the Commission. Given the time passed since its adoption, the Commission has agreed on the need to prepare a new and modern Strategy, which should take into consideration the latest developments and lessons learnt at the national level, as well as the trends and challenges identified at the global level. The prior elaboration of this voluntary report is supposed to facilitate the process of updating the Strategy. 4. International Humanitarian Law Day in Romania (14 May) The importance devoted to the dissemination of IHL and the contribution of the Commission to this end are illustrated by the adoption of Law no. 177 of 2013 through which the 14th of May was declared, upon the initiative of the Commission, as “International Humanitarian Law Day in Romania”. The choice of date has symbolic meaning, representing the day on which Romania ratified, in 1954, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and, consequently, as an expression of attachment to the universal IHL values. In order to mark this anniversary, a series of events aimed at promoting IHL are regularly organized by the competent authorities, in collaboration with the Romanian Red Cross. 5. International Criminal Court (ICC) and international criminal justice The Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol I state that grave breaches of IHL must be punished. Legal consequences of violations of IHL are not limited to those under the law of State responsibility. The persons committing such crimes are subject to individual criminal responsibility. By encouraging the national prosecution of war crimes and, more significantly, by establishing international bodies such as the ICC and the ad-hoc international criminal 11  tribunals, the international community has placed an increased focus on the repression of serious violations of IHL. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, serious violations of IHL and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions are classified as war crimes. More specifically, the Statute codified the well-established body of war crimes committed in armed conflicts. Thus, not all breaches of IHL fall within the jurisdiction of the Court, given that the less serious violations do not qualify as war crimes. Romania is an active supporter of the activity of the ICC and of the global justice system, sharing the conviction that the pursuit of justice serves durable peace. Romania will continue to raise awareness about the Court’s mandate, defend the impartial and independent conduct of its functions and ensure its improved performance as the sole permanent international criminal jurisdiction. While States retain the primary responsibility to prevent, investigate and prosecute the gravest international crimes under the competence of the International Criminal Court, the existence of the Court has clearly contributed to combating impunity and consolidating the concept of accountability under international law. The activity of the ICC has been a catalyst for passing relevant domestic legislation and for consolidating national justice mechanisms, in accordance with the complementary character of the Court. As ad country co-focal point on complementarity of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) between 2017 and 2021, Romania constantly called for a renewed attention to supporting national proceedings, including by mainstreaming the Rome Statute concepts into the relevant development assistance programmes dedicated to the consolidation of the rule of law. As part of the political support for the Court, in addition to the above-mentioned function, Romania also acted as co-facilitator of the Action Plan on the universality and full implementation of the Rome Statute (2013) and held several mandates in the ASP Bureau. 6. Resettlement activities Armed conflicts remain a major cause of forced displacement. Given the complexity of today’s warfare, the reality of the multifaceted interactions between humanitarian law, refugee law, and human rights law cannot be overlook in the context of ensuring the most effective protection for some of the most vulnerable victims of violence. Resettlement, as a durable solution for refugees, is a form of responsibility sharing between countries and a key-instrument for the implementation of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.  It is the procedure for the selection and transfer of refugees from a state where they have applied for protection 12 in another state receiving them as refugees, with the possibility of permanent residence. Refugee resettlement also plays an important role in the EU policy on asylum. The domestic legal framework for refugee resettlement is ensured by Law no. 122/2006 on asylum, which provides for refugee status eligibility, and the Government Decision no. 1596/2008 regarding the resettlement of refugees in Romania, which sets out the criteria2, quota and procedures for resettlement. The National Committee for Refugee Resettlement, a consultative body composed of representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, makes annual recommendations as regards the countries of asylum and refugee groups that the Romanian resettlement programme should focus on for the coming year. The Committee bases its recommendations on several aspects, including the UNHCR’s projected global resettlement needs, Romania’s foreign policy and the joint resettlement priorities of the European Union. The recommendations are submitted for approval to the minister of interior and the minister of foreign affairs. Romania has also contributed to the global resettlement efforts through the establishment of an Emergency Transit Center (ETC) in Timisoara in 2008, following a Tri-Partite Agreement between the Romanian Government, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The ETC can accommodate up to 200 refugees who for reasons of security urgently need to be evacuated from a country of asylum, but have not yet been accepted for resettlement to a third country. The selection missions, orientation sessions and medical examinations of the resettlement countries can thus be conducted in the best possible conditions. 7. Other actions and initiatives at the regional and international levels a) Romania has been a constant supporter of initiatives aimed at strengthening compliance with IHL at the international level, such as “the Geneva intergovernmental consultation process” co-facilitated by Switzerland and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It will continue to plead in favour of a non-politicized space for regular intergovernmental dialogue on topics of common interest in this field. 2 Person eligible for resettlement: - recognized as refugee according to the 1951 Refugee Convention by a State or by the UNHCR; - does not enjoy an effective protection on the territory of the country of asylum; - does not have any perspectives for integration in the country of asylum; - does not have any perspectives for voluntary repatriation to the country of origin under conditions of safety and dignity; - does not present a threat to public order, national security, public health or morals; - expresses agreement to be resettled in Romania; - displays potential for integration in the Romanian society; - meets minimum health status requirements set by the Ministry of Health. 13  b) Romania has used the momentum offered by the sessions of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IC) to reaffirm its voluntary commitment to strengthen compliance, promotion, dissemination and implementation of international humanitarian law, through the common pledges by the EU and its Member States. At the same time, Romania contributed to the reports on the status of implementation of the pledges submitted by the EU and its Member States to the International Conference. During the 32nd session of the IC (December 2015), Romania co-hosted with Poland a side-event on lessons learnt from voluntary reporting on national compliance with IHL, where it expressed its interest in elaborating a report of this kind. c) Furthermore, Romania supported the preparation of annual reports on the EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with IHL as a means of better disseminating knowledge of the European Union’s work in this field and helping to improve the coherence and effectiveness of its efforts. Along the same lines, in 2019, Romania supported the revision of the mandate of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights (EUSR) to increase EUSR’s role in advancing and implementing the European Union’s positions on IHL and International Criminal Justice. Such a decision was meant to respond to the need for strengthened internal coordination to adequately mainstream IHL and accountability issues in all relevant areas of EU’s foreign policy, as well as to engage closer with partners in advancing respect for IHL and supporting the fight against impunity worldwide, while promoting public understanding of EU’s contribution in this field. d) Complementary to efforts in the global arena, Romania tried to seize the opportunities for regional dialogue as important avenues to foster observance of IHL through providing context-specific solutions. On 13 October 2006, the Commission organised an extraordinary meeting with the National Advisory Committee on Coordinating the Application of International Humanitarian Law in the Republic of Moldova with the view to allowing for an exchange of information on the activity and added value of these inter-institutional mechanisms, as well as on useful means of widening the knowledge about IHL, especially in schools. On the margins of “The Martens Readings” International Conference on International Humanitarian Law co-organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the St. Petersburg State University in Sankt Petersburg from 31 May to 2 June 2017, the Romanian representative, member of the National Commission on IHL, took part in an informal meeting of the National Commisions/Commitees on IHL together with delegates from Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Belarus and Tadjikistan. The Russian Federation attended as an observer. 14 The Commission aimed at further contributing to stimulating regional cooperation by organizing, together with the ICRC, a Regional IHL Conference for States in Central and South-Eastern Europe in Bucharest on 27-28 March 2018. The idea of this event stemmed from informal discussions between interested delegations on the margins of the Universal meeting of National Committees and similar bodies on international humanitarian law organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva from 30 November to 2 December 2016. The purpose of the Regional Conference was to discuss IHL issues of common interest and encourage peer-to-peer cooperation. The dialogue focused on the IHL-related work of the national authorities and in particular on the role and performance of national IHL commissions and similar bodies on IHL, with the view to exchanging information, both in terms of challenges and best practices, in support of enhancing their activity. Preparing an action plan, producing an annual report, making this report public, building ties with the relevant national stakeholders and having a dedicated webpage for the national commission were some of the good practices highlighted in this meeting. Whilst the discussions pinpointed the absence of a standard model for the set-up and functioning of such committees, as the specific political and institutional realities of each state must be taken into account, the exchange of views confirmed their important role in ensuring respect for IHL at the national level and, potentially, more broadly. Therefore, their establishment was to be encouraged. Participants agreed on the need to develop the regional dialogue on IHL as a way of boosting the impact of national mechanisms and processes, as well as expressed availability to contribute to establishing and maintaining a network of IHL focal points in the region with the purpose of exchanging information, experiences, best practices and possibly even identifying means of contributing collectively to strengthening IHL compliance at a more general level. e) Taking into consideration the 2014 Strategy of the EU Network to combat impunity for the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes within the European Union and its Member States, as well as the national requirement upon a Military Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Appeal Court to assemble a multidisciplinary team to investigate a mass grave, the Romanian Government took action to invest in the formation of national experts to support a multidisciplinary research of mass graves with the aim of preventing such atrocities from happening. On September 27-28, 2018, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Public Ministry, together with the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, launched the National Expert Network on Genocide Prevention and Multidisciplinary 15  Research on Mass Graves. This project was aimed at bringing together and enhancing the knowledge of Romanian experts involved in criminal investigations, police and forensics work, criminology, pathology, anthropology and history. At the same time, the initiative was meant to contribute to the international efforts in the area of investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes under international law, by creating the possibility to lend the national expertise in the field, as needed. In the period 2017-2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Public Ministry organised a series of national and regional seminars on the subject of genocide and mass atrocities that helped stimulate inter-institutional cooperation, consolidate relevant expertise and raise awareness about the importance of IHL. 8. The Romanian Red Cross Society The Romanian Red Cross was established on 4 July 1876 and has been continuously operating since then. The Romanian Red Cross is the only humanitarian institution in the country that has clear duties as auxiliary to the public authorities, especially in the field of prevention and intervention in case of disaster. Within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Romanian Red Cross was recognised by the International Committee of the Red Cross in the year of its establishment. It has also acted as the designated national affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies since 1919. In 1995, the National Red Cross Society was recognized by law3 as a non-governmental, apolitical, autonomous legal entity, without patrimonial scope, auxiliary to the public authority, which carries out its humanitarian activity on the entire Romanian territory. The Romanian Red Cross provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside Romania, through a national network of 47 branches and over 10,000 active volunteers, who devote their time to assisting persons in difficulty. At the same time, promoting IHL within the general public, in particular young people, remains at the core of the work of this institution. Consequently, one of the priorities of the Romanian Red Cross is to consolidate its role as an important provider of education in the area of IHL. The Romanian Red Cross has a rich history of collaboration with the Romanian public authorities in delivering social, health and educational services, according to its mission. According to Art