Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have granted the war crimes team within the Metropolitan Police Service a general power proactively to investigate alleged war crimes in the Occupied Territories, or whether that team only investigates such allegations following specific requests by the International Criminal Court in accordance with the International Criminal Courts Act 2001.

The Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) War Crimes Team, hosted by SO15, is a small team that has national responsibility for investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is funded directly by CTP and operates across the UK. The CTP War Crimes Team, which is hosted within the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, has received around 170 referrals relating to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict since 7 October. It would not be appropriate to comment on the specific nature of each and every referral, or the referrer, but each case is reviewed in line with War Crimes/Crimes Against Humanity Referral Guidelines, jointly agreed by police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The operational independence of policing is integral to this process. At this time, there is no UK-based investigation into any matters relating to this particular conflict.