Ending a dispute between the Netherlands and the member states of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this week it will continue to pay the court’s six million euro annual rent through the end of this year.

Although the original lease agreement expires in July 2012, the ministry has agreed to a six-month extension.

“We are commending the Dutch government in its capacity as host state in meeting the costs for the rent of the temporary premises for the entirety of 2012,” said Sunil Pal, Head of the Legal Section at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. “However, a sustainable solution has to be found for 2013 and successive years, one that does not negatively impact on the regular budget of the ICC, which is already overstretched.”

The extension by the Dutch seems to have put to rest for now the growing controversy between it and some of the court’s member states over who should foot the bill. Just last November, Marc Dubuisson, one of the court's directors, lamented what he said was a lack of flexibility by the host state. “They are being really Dutch,” he told the Dutch daily Trouw over the Netherlands’ initial refusal to waver from the original contract.

No slum lords

When the ICC was established in 2002, the Netherlands agreed to let it operate rent-free for 10 years, by which time it hoped the court would be in its permanent home. But that now won’t happen until 2015.

The Dutch have already spent approximately €225 million on rent and preparations for the court’s permanent premises. If the countries that are party to the court haven’t moved as fast as they could have to be in their own premises by now, goes the Dutch logic, then they should pay for their slowness.

But times are hard all around, and ICC finances are no exception. Future rent will have to come out of its regular budget, which is currently 108 million euro per year. With many countries advocating zero percent growth, paying rent hasn’t gone over well.

Some states floated the idea of buying the temporary court premises, located in a former KPN telecom building on the outskirts of The Hague. But that was unacceptable to the Dutch government, which has already spent approximately €120 million towards the permanent premises project—money it said it wanted back if State Parties went ahead with the purchase of the KPN building.

The decision by Dutch officials to pay the lease for the remainder of this year is what one court observer called a “peace offering” by the host state. The court has also been negotiating with its current landlord—ING—to lower its rent. But from 2013 on, the court’s member states have agreed to foot the rental bill.

The permanent premises of the Court will be built on the site of the Alexanderkazerne, a former military barracks complex near the Scheveningen prison. Construction is scheduled to start later this year.