ICC Government Support 2023-11-21
2023-11-21
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The question addresses the financial and practical support provided by the UK government to the International Criminal Court for its war crime investigations.
What additional (a) financial and (b) practical support the Government plans to provide the International Criminal Court for its war crime investigations.
The UK is one of the major funders of the International Criminal Court, and provides further practical support including sentence enforcement, pro bono expertise in victim and witness protection, and secondments. In June, I met with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan KC, and I will remain in contact with the ICC to discuss what resources it needs to operate effectively.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The supplementary question concerns the guarantee that the UK government will not intervene against any future ICC investigation into war crimes, referring to previous actions alongside the United States.
It should go without saying that the International Criminal Court needs to be able to do its work unimpeded if it is to establish when collateral damage transcends into deliberate slaughter, or whether self-defence was in fact collective punishment. Will the Government provide a guarantee from the Dispatch Box that they will not intervene—as they did alongside the United States in 2021—against any future ICC investigation into war crimes perpetrated against the people of Gaza?
The hon. Gentleman's original question was about the resource that we provide to the ICC. We are the second largest donor after Germany, and we have provided some additional support this year. Questions about prosecution are matters for independent prosecutors. It is not for Ministers in this Parliament to make that sort of decision: that will be a matter for independent prosecutors, whom I would expect to exercise their discretion freely and fairly.
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Assessment & feedback
The government's past or future interference with ICC investigations.
Questions About Prosecution Are Matters For Independent Prosecutors.
Response accuracy