What is the purpose of the present paper?

1. The present paper is a further attempt to provide some additional food for thought for the continued opinion-building process among members of the Preparatory Commission. This process is, in the view of Germany, indispensable for reaching the necessary general agreement in order to fulfil the mandate given to the Preparatory Commission in resolution F as contained in annex I of the Final Act of the Rome Conference (A/CONF.183/10), which reads:

2. Being fully aware of the complexity and the many difficult aspects involved in this crime and this mandate, the German delegation hopes that the present paper will contribute to achieving the necessary general agreement for a definition of the crime of aggression as referred to in article 5 of the Statute. While this paper is focused primarily on the question of an appropriate definition, the German side is fully aware that this question is inseparably linked to the second crucial question as contained in article 5, paragraph 2, of the Statute, as well as in the mandate of the Preparatory Commission, i.e., the conditions under which the International Criminal Court shall exercise its jurisdiction with respect to this crime. The latter question, however, is not discussed as such in the present paper.