New Clause 8 - Amendments of the ICC Statute
International Criminal Court Bill [Lords]
Public Bill Committees, 3 May 2001, 10:30 am
Mr Crispin Blunt (Reigate, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
We have had a limited discussion about the power of the Executive and Parliament. The new clause champions the role of Parliament and gives it the opportunity to discuss any amendments to the Rome statute that might be made under article 121.
It is almost certain that the statute will be amended at some point. For example, we discussed earlier the possibility of the court's being used as the medium through which to police the international drugs trade. The Minister said that that was an interesting idea. It is not on the agenda at the moment, as the court is currently establishing itself as the forum for the most serious crimes—those listed in articles 5, 6, 7 and 8. However, we do not know how the court will develop; we all hope that it will become an important instrument for the control of crime.