HICC 01215
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
1993
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
26 January 1993
Aus youtes A 1012/5.
тра
Mr. Burten
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
NB2=/;
London SWŁA ZAH
HKD
From The Secretary of State
Dear Low Shaweron, 3
Thank you for your letter of 15 January about my address at Chatham House on 27 January.
I would like to answer the two matters you raise. Doing so by letter enables me to give you a fuller reply than I could
at Chatham House.
You asked about the establishment of either a criminal chamber of the International Court of Justice or of a separate international court of criminal jurisdiction. The former
option is not one which we or other countries favour. It would
require an amendment to the UN Charter since the Statute of the
ICJ is an integral part of the Charter. Most discussion so far
has focused on the question of establishing an international criminal court by an international convention.
The
There are substantial legal, political and practical obstacles to establishing an international criminal court. International Law Commission has in the last three years been
addressing many of these. I enclose a copy of the Statement
made by the FCO's Legal Adviser, Frank Berman, during the discussion of that report in the Sixth Committee of last year's session of the General Assembly. You will see that we do not
object to an extension of the provisions of universal
jurisdiction, but we believe that the establishment of such a court will take many years.
The Rt Hon Lord Shawcross GBE QC