madam president my national party the british conservatives for those who do not know i am a conservative has expressed serious concerns in the past about the icc and its enforcement of international criminal jurisprudence as encapsulated in the rome statute in the areas of crimes against humanity war crimes and genocide
however the tenth anniversary of the statute's entry into force does offer us now an opportunity to make a clear assessment of the role of the icc and in my view the court has to its credit stuck rigidly to its brief eschewing mischievous prosecutions and seeking to arraign only the most serious tyrants
the court's chief prosecutor luis moreno-ocampo has skilfully helped the court to strengthen its impartiality globally
the aggressive pursuit of politically motivated cases has thankfully failed to materialise which was one of the big worries of our american allies
britain joined the icc under the previous labour administration
perhaps the recent establishment of a conservative-liberal coalition in the uk last week offers us now a chance to reassess britain's relationship with the icc and at kampala to amend some of the disputed areas like command responsibility
we cannot allow the uk's vital national interests to be compromised by the icc but at the same time we should also recognise that in certain circumstances the icc may have a constructive role to play in ending a climate of impunity for genocidal dictators
