A/HRC/10/25 page 8 22. The fight against impunity is one of the priority areas of the State’s foreign policy. Over the years, Finland has in many ways supported the ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court and continues to do so. With respect to the International Criminal Court, Finland has taken action both individually and through the European Union and its action plan to follow-up on the European Union common position on the International Criminal Court. 23. Finland has always supported the establishment and effective functioning of the International Criminal Court as well as of the universality, integrity and full implementation of the Rome Statute. It ratified the Rome Statute on 29 December 2000, and the Statute entered into force for Finland on 1 July 2002, the day it entered into force internationally. Together with the Statute, legislation implementing the application of the Statute, including provisions on legal assistance to the Court and the enforcement of penalties ordered by the Court, as well as certain amendments of the Penal Code, were also adopted. No major amendments were introduced to the Finnish Penal Code when the Statute was ratified. It was acknowledged, however, that this was necessary for national courts to be fully able to exercise jurisdiction over crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction. A Government bill on certain amendments with regard to, for example, the definition of genocide and some other criminalizations in chapter 11 of the Penal Code as well as on introducing specific provisions implementing articles 28 and 33 of the Rome Statute was submitted to Parliament on 13 September 2007. The amendments concerned were adopted on 11 April 2008 and entered into force on 1 May 2008. 24. Full cooperation by States with the ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court is needed for them to be able to fulfil their mandates. To this end, Finland has concluded separate agreements with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland has a grant for providing voluntary financial assistance to projects related to the fight against impunity, and has used this grant to sponsor various projects specifically related to the ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court, such as the Outreach Project of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Legal Tools Project, and the Internship and Visiting Professionals Programme of the International Criminal Court. Contributions have also been allocated to the Trust Fund for Victims and a trust fund for the participation of least developed countries and other developing states in the assembly of States parties. Finland has also supported international and local human rights and other organizations as well as human rights defenders contributing to the fight against impunity. 25. The Government of Finland believes that peace, justice, human rights and development are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The International Criminal Court and the ad hoc tribunals have an important role in upholding the rule of law, which Finland strongly supports. In addition to punishing the crime of genocide, their establishment and the increase in relevant case law on both the international and national levels as well as the ensuing deterrent effect may also be seen as partial responses to the commitment to prevent the crime of genocide. This alone is not sufficient, however. Large-scale violations of rules protecting civilian populations are typical in failed State situations and in internal conflicts. Therefore, the underlying causes for political disorder should be addressed in the preventive manner through a variety of means. 26. The Government of Finland also mentioned that, in 2005, the General Assembly, in the World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1), endorsed the concept of “responsibility to protect”, acknowledging that the primary responsibility for the protection of populations, whether citizens