Schedule 8 - Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes: articles 6 to 9
International Criminal Court Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Professor Ross Cranston (Solicitor General, Law Officers' Department; Dudley North, Labour)
Let me deal with the three examples given by the hon. Gentleman. The sinking of the Belgrano would not fall within the provisions that he seeks to delete from the Bill, because it was a military object.
The attack on the television station in Belgrade would not fall within paragraph 2(b)(iv) of schedule 8. The expression
``clearly excessive in relation to the...military advantage''
would not catch that attack because the television station was pumping out propaganda for the Serbian regime. As I said to the Committee the other day, the prosecutor for the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has decided not to take the process forward in relation to that attack.
In relation to the second world war Bomber Command, it was partly as a result of the range of events that took place in the second world war that we have the Geneva protocols. The approach taken by all major countries was that war must be more civilised, and the hon. Gentleman's party, when in power in 1957 and 1995, incorporated those protocols into domestic law. I commend it for that and the Labour party at the time supported it. Civilised countries took the view that the provisions were necessary so that, should war occur—it is unfortunately inevitable in our world—it would be conducted in a civilised way.