International Criminal Law: Criminal Investigation

(asked on 26th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources of the (a) Metropolitan Police and (b) CPS to (i) investigate and (ii) prosecute people residing in the UK who are suspected of committing international crimes; and if he will ensure that the investigation and prosecution of such individuals is prioritised.


Answered by
Nick Hurd Portrait
Nick Hurd
This question was answered on 3rd April 2019

The Government is committed to upholding international law and holding those who commit the most serious crimes accountable for their actions and is clear that the UK should not provide a safe haven for war criminals or those who commit other serious violations of international law. The Government encourages action to be taken to bring such individuals to justice wherever possible. In doing so, the Government has published guidance file:///C:/Users/panayih1/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/1D3NBYIH/universal-jurisdiction-note-web.pdf to clarify the role of prosecutors and the police on the investigation and prosecution of crimes of universal jurisdiction.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) War Crimes Unit is a dedicated specialist unit which investigates and prosecutes people living in the UK suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in line with universal jurisdiction. The MPS continuously reviews operational need and allocates additional resource to the unit in line with demand.

The CPS Counter Terrorism Division has the responsibility for prosecuting such crimes and the division has doubled in size in recent years. The CPS is facing an increase in sensitive and complex cases and this drives the need for specialist staff. The CPS has a budget to enable its resourcing; the Attorney General and the Solicitor General will continue to work with them and HMT to ensure that this is the case and that their needs are reflected in any future Spending Review.

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