TNAG-2716-FCO40-3922-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 48

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26 January 1993

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Mr. Berrien

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

HKD

London SWIA 2AH

From The Secretary of State

Dear Lord Shawern,

M

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