Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the number of prosecutions of UK citizens in the UK for International Criminal Court category crimes committed overseas in recent years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
There is no plan to review the number of prosecutions of UK citizens in the UK for International Criminal Court category crimes committed overseas in recent years. Prosecution decisions are taken independently of Government. In every case bought by the Crown Prosecution Service, prosecutors are required by the Code for Crown Prosecutors to select charges which: reflect the seriousness and extent of the offending supported by the evidence; give the court adequate powers to sentence and impose appropriate post-conviction orders; and enable the case to be presented in a clear and simple way.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answers by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 7 November and Lord Ashton of Hyde on 6 November (HL Deb, col 1594), what steps they are taking under the Suicide Act 1961 to prosecute those responsible for internet sites that incite, aid or abet the promotion of suicide.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Director of Public Prosecutions has published a ‘Policy for Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Encouraging or Assisting Suicide’. In this policy, the DPP makes the CPS position clear that, in the context of websites that promote suicide, a suspect may commit the offence of encouraging or assisting suicide, if it is intended that one or more readers of such material will commit or attempt to commit suicide.
In considering whether or not to bring charges under section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961, a Crown Prosecutor will apply the Full Code Test as set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, giving consideration to both the evidence and the public interest in prosecuting, as they would with any other offence.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the recommendation in paragraph 6.2.3. of Council of Europe Resolution 2190 (2017) regarding “not prioritising, systematically and exclusively, with regard to the members of Daesh, the application of national anti-terrorist legislation, to the detriment of their universal jurisdiction when examining cases involving the crimes described in the Rome Statute of the ICC”.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Prosecutors decide which offences to pursue on a case-by-case basis and do not systematically and exclusively prefer some categories of offences over others. In all cases the Code for Crown Prosecutors requires prosecutors to select charges which: reflect the seriousness and extent of the offending supported by the evidence; give the court adequate powers to sentence and impose appropriate post-conviction orders; and enable the case to be presented in a clear and simple way.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Attorney General has advised on whether any UK court of law can make a judgment on whether the crime of genocide has taken place as defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
By longstanding convention, the fact that the Law Officers have or have not advised, and the content of their advice, is not disclosed outside Government.