Clause 2 - Request for arrest and surrender
International Criminal Court Bill [Lords]
3:00 pm
Mr John Battle (Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Leeds West, Labour)
No, I shall try to answer some of the points that have been made first. Northern Ireland is not relevant. The hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham mentioned South Africa, Chile, Argentina and Sierra Leone. It is important to note that many of the countries that have wrestled with crimes of the past are among the strongest supporters of the ICC.
Clause 2 sets out the procedure to be followed when a request is received from the ICC for
``the arrest and surrender of a person alleged to have committed an ICC crime,''
or for that of someone who has already been convicted by the ICC. That is the purpose of the clause. The nature of the crimes is a subject that comes later in the Bill. Let us get to that part of the Bill, rather than try to bring that debate forward—if you agree that that is a fair way to proceed, Mr. Cook.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill.