The proposal, presented in the lead up to next year's Review Conference in Uganda, would place "The crime of international drug trafficking" alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
It does not, however, have much support from States parties to the ICC and is unlikely to go forward for review. It is nonetheless an important debate to watch.
The proposal itself is interesting in its clear acknowledgement of the limitations of the current international legal framework for drug control.
The definition of the crime of drug trafficking is also worth reading in full - being very wide and in many ways problematic.
For the purposes of the present Statute, crimes involving the illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances mean any of the following acts, but only when they pose a threat to the peace, order and security of a State or region:
(a) Undertaking, organizing, sponsoring, ordering, facilitating or financing the production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, offering for sale, distribution, sale, delivery on any terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation or exportation of any narcotic drug or any psychotropic substance contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs; the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended; the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, or the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances when committed on a large scale and involving acts of a transboundary character;
(b) Murder, kidnapping or any other form of attack upon the person or liberty of civilians or security personnel in an attempt to further any of the acts referred to in subparagraph (a); and
(c) Violent attacks upon the official or private premises of persons or institutions with the intention of creating fear or insecurity within a State or States or disrupting their economic, social, political or security structures when committed in connection with any of the acts referred to in subparagraph (a).
Citation: 'Trinidad and Tobago and Belize propose the inclusion of the Crime of International Drug Trafficking in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court' (ICC-ASP/10/32 Assembly of States Parties) 9 December 2011
The proposal is available for download from the website of the ICC.