New Clause 1 - Jurisdiction of the court
International Criminal Court Bill [Lords]
6:45 pm
Mr John Battle (Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Leeds West, Labour)
The rules state that the ICC will consider only cases that the country in which the accused resides is ``unwilling and unable'' to prosecute. We have been clear about that in our discussion of handing over and arresting people, and we cannot go back over that ground. The ICC will not get a look in, because such cases will be tried here first under the rules and laws of war in this country. Our rules of engagement in international military operations comply with United Kingdom domestic and international legal obligations. In the past, that has resulted in rules of engagement that differ between national contingents of our forces. We must not forget that British forces and operational deployments are subject at all times to military law, which is United Kingdom domestic law within the context of the Geneva convention and its annexes to which we have signed up previously.
I emphasise that the ICC statute does not create a new law. It does not ban the use of weapons that have been in our arsenal or been the subject of our procurement process. The laws dealing with weaponry are created under the United Nations convention or are part of our customary international law. No new ground will be created, and arguments to the contrary are smokescreens or red herrings. I agree with the right hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross that we can argue that there are loopholes in the Bill, but when those loopholes have been rebutted they should not be used to suggest that our intention is not to let the court get off the ground. I do not suspect that to be the Opposition's motive: I accept their arguments in good faith and believe that, like us, they want to ensure that we achieve the best Bill possible. I hope that I have given Opposition Members the reassurances for which they have asked on new clause 1.
New clause 5 would require the Government to seek parliamentary approval of reservations and declarations before ratification. Under article 120 of the Rome statute, no reservations may be made to the statute; accordingly, the Government will not be making any, nor will we be taking the war crimes opt-out under article 124. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made it clear on Second Reading that we expect to make a declaration on ratification in accordance with article 87 on such matters as our wish that ICC documents to be sent to us in English. Similar declarations on ratification have been made by eight other states. When ratifying an international treaty, it is usual practice for states to make an interpretive statement showing their understanding of certain provisions should they wish to do so. We have to make a final decision whether we shall produce such a statement. Of the 29 states that have ratified the statute, only two have made interpretive statements—and the second was a response to the first.
One of the reasons why so few states have made interpretive statements is that the ICC is not obliged to take such statements into account. As reservations to the statute are not permitted, states cannot make any declaration that purports to modify the legal effect of the statute—nor do we wish to modify the legal effect of the statute. We have no difficulty with it as drafted. There was a consensus in favour of it, which is why we signed it, and it was welcomed in this House and in another place in 1998.