UN General Assembly · 2 November 2026
A/81/L.11 adopted 93–13–36; Trinidad and Tobago abstains
Records adoption of A/81/L.11 by 93 votes to 13, with 36 abstentions; the text condemns threats, attacks and interference against the Court and says it must work without intimidation. Reports Trinidad and Tobago's first abstention; consensus adoption from 2005 to 2022; sponsorship in 2023; Devita Abraham's 2023 statement; and that the Ministry had yet to make an official statement.
Recorded votes · 2023–2025
From sponsor to abstention
2023: Adopted 115–6–31. Trinidad and Tobago is listed as sponsor and voted yes; the United States voted yes; 41 states did not vote. 2024: Adopted 113–10–30. Trinidad and Tobago and the United States both voted yes; 40 states did not vote. 2025: Adopted 94–10–34. Trinidad and Tobago voted yes; the United States voted no; 55 states did not vote. From 2005 to 2022 the resolution was adopted without a vote.
Origins · 1950s–1989
Oxford, Woetzel and the 1989 initiative
Traces Robinson's commitment to a permanent tribunal to Oxford in the 1950s with Robert Woetzel, and their 1972 Foundation for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. The resolution that followed Trinidad and Tobago's initiative, addressing international criminal responsibility for illicit drug trafficking and other transnational crime and the establishment of an international criminal court. Records the 1989 agenda item, support from all CARICOM states, adoption by consensus, Robinson's 2006 election to the Trust Fund for Victims board and William Pace's assessment.
Negotiation · 1989–2002
From drug trafficking to the core crimes
Records the 1989 CARICOM-backed initiative, the 1994 International Law Commission draft statute, the shift from drug trafficking to core crimes, and the 1998 and 2002 milestones.
Statement · 18 May 1998
Robinson on the conditions for a credible court
Robinson's statement before the Rome conference: his 1969 'collision course' warning, the 1989 UN initiative, and the conditions on which the Court's credibility would depend. He wrote that the Court must be "unfettered by the reality or perception of subordination to the will of a few states" and would "never be a reality unless states agree to fund its operations and comply with its orders under all circumstances".
Treaty record · 1999–2006
Second State Party; first Caribbean implementing Act
Signed 23 March 1999, ratified 6 April 1999 as the second State Party after Senegal; rejected a US bilateral immunity agreement; Judge Hudson-Phillips elected 2003; International Criminal Court Act enacted February 2006.
International Criminal Court · 1 May 2014
“The grandfather of the International Criminal Court”
Credits Robinson with setting the process in motion in 1989; records his Trust Fund for Victims service and the naming of the Court's first courtroom; quotes his 1990 UN address and his 2002 statement on the US campaign against the Court; calls him the Court's grandfather.
UN Photo · 4 October 1990
Robinson at the General Assembly
Archival photograph of A.N.R. Robinson addressing the 45th session of the General Assembly. Credit: UN Photo/John Isaac. A second frame from the same address is credited UN Photo/Milton Grant (UN7681108). UN Photo material is used for news purposes with credit.
Sanctions · 2025–2026
The Court sanctioned as an institution
The Court's response to the sanctions on the institution, which followed designations against thirteen judges and prosecutors. Reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement announcing sanctions on the Court as an institution. Records the Secretary-General's condemnation of the sanctions on the Court. Records that nine of eighteen judges are under sanctions and that six states notified withdrawal during the reporting period, with another taking steps since.
UN General Assembly · 28 October 2026
Trinidad and Tobago votes against the Cuba embargo resolution
Records adoption of A/81/L.5 by 130 votes to 17, with 25 abstentions. Trinidad and Tobago opposed the resolution for the first time; it abstained in 1992 and voted in favour every year thereafter, including 2025. Reports the Prime Minister's explanation of the Cuba vote and records the CARICOM voting positions.
Extracts are summarised from the document of record, which is linked above. Where a passage is disputed, this newsroom will publish the correction alongside the extract.