New Clause 2 - Government responsibility to maintainlaw and order
International Criminal Court Bill [Lords]
9:55 am
Mr John Battle (Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Leeds West, Labour)
The new clause repeats the language of article 8.3, except that the phrase
``Nothing in paragraph 2(c) and (e)''
is replaced with
``Nothing in the ICC Statute''.
It concludes with the words ``at its disposal.'' I put it to the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) that the new clause would have absolutely no legal consequence whatsoever. Keeping the big picture in mind, we must always remember that the Bill will not be retrospective. When the hon. Lady referred to the inquiries in Northern Ireland, she read the words, ``should another such event occur''. That was helpful, because the Bill covers only future events, not those that have already happened. That applies even to inquiries into current events.
I am happy to give the hon. Lady the assurance that the Opposition seem to be seeking: nothing in the ICC statute affects the Government's responsibility or ability to maintain law and order and national defence by legitimate means. For the avoidance of any doubt, article 8.3 of the statute, which relates to war crimes and internal conflict, provides the cover. We should note that the same reassurance is given in additional protocol 2 to article 3 of the Geneva conventions, to which we are party. Of course we believe that it is important for the ICC to have jurisdiction over crimes committed in internal armed conflicts. The vast majority of conflicts in today's world are not between states but internal, within countries' borders. The provisions in the Rome statute and additional protocol were designed to give states reassurance that the specific provisions regulating internal armed conflicts in no way affect their responsibilities to defend their territory and maintain law and order by legitimate means.
Such a reassurance is appropriate in an international treaty, but it would be entirely unnecessary and inappropriate to replicate such a provision in domestic criminal legislation. That is not just the Government's view; there is common precedent for it. As we have already mentioned, the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1995, which implemented the two additional protocols to the Geneva conventions, was passed and agreed to by the previous Government. That Act did not repeat nor specifically refer to article 3 of additional protocol 2 for an obvious reason: it would have been unnecessary.
I see no reason to depart from the previous Government's stance on such matters. There are no substantial or convincing arguments that Opposition Members have actually changed their minds on it. I hope that that will reassure the hon. Lady that the amendment is unnecessary, and that she will feel able to withdraw it.