Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen UK co-operation with international partners to ensure the (a) prosecution and (b) extradition of people who commit international crimes.

The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to tackle the most serious international offences, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. We assist other countries in prosecuting offences that take place within their territory of jurisdiction and collaborate with other states to develop credible international criminal justice mechanisms. The UK continues to provide political, financial and logistical support to the International Criminal Court (ICC) alongside other ad-hoc international tribunals and international mechanisms mandated by the UN.

The UK has mutual legal assistance arrangements with other countries, and permits the surrender of its own nationals subject to statutory safeguards. Countries that are party to the relevant conventions dealing with international crimes are able to make requests to the UK, either as part of systematic treaty-based co-operation, or on a case-by-case basis. The UK may also consider requests from countries where there are no extradition arrangements.