Member

This is also an opportunity to iron out a glaring inconsistency: despite universal jurisdiction already being included in legislation such as the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 and, in relation to the crime of torture, Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, Sections 51 and 58 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001—the legislation which domesticates the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court—do not follow the same approach. British courts may prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes as defined by the Rome statute committed abroad only if they were perpetrated by British citizens or residents. Although British courts can prosecute breaches of the Geneva convention on torture committed by anyone anywhere in the world, they cannot do so in relation to the international crimes defined in the Rome statute. Even where British citizens were victims of such international crimes committed overseas, their families cannot seek justice through their own British courts. This justice gap is waiting to be filled and these amendments are designed to do that.