Clause 2 - Request for arrest and surrender
International Criminal Court Bill [Lords]
11:45 am
Mr Crispin Blunt (Reigate, Conservative)
I am saying that, on the basis of their population, that is likely. That is all that one can say. I base my assumption solely on the size of their populations. Extremes of population have an effect on the way in which the Assembly of States Parties votes on those positions, and all of the 18 judges on the ICC must come from different countries. That means that the field of judges from which one is obliged to select is unlikely to be of as high a quality as it would be if one had a free choice of jurists regardless of their nationality and if there were no voting process—if the judges were appointed on the basis of a straightforward selection test of their ability as jurists. That is true not least for the reasons that my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth) made clear. Because of the secret ballot, the election of the judges and the way countries vote will always be subject to negotiation.
I am certain that if we ratify the statute, the United Kingdom and France, as two major players, will be successful in getting a judge elected as a member of the court. Of course, I cannot be wholly certain, because the judges will be elected by secret ballot. However, if the United Kingdom has a candidate for the panel, the Foreign Office will attempt to ensure that we can rely on the votes of those members of the Commonwealth and of the European Union that have ratified the treaty. We would use the networks to which we belong to secure support for our candidates—as will every other country. If a country is small and wants to focus on one particular institution, it has quite a lot to trade—on vote out of a narrow field of only 30 for the election of a prosecutor or a two-thirds majority out of 40 for the election of a judge.