Vol. 478 No. 5
20 Mr. Briscoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the active and practical steps, if any, which have been taken by the present Government to expedite the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court with jurisdiction over areas such as war crimes, international human rights abuses, environmental crime, international terrorism and drug related crime, the need for which has been internationally recognised. [11475/97]
I have sought to maintain the impetus towards the establishment of an international criminal court both at the political and at the diplomatic level. I have raised the question of its establishment in my last three statements to the UN General Assembly in a national capacity. Last year, I repeated this commitment on behalf of the European Union in the memorandum on foreign policy which accompanied my Presidency address to the General Assembly. I believe that it is only through the establishment of such a court that the international community can effectively demonstrate that massive human rights violations will never go unpunished.
Officials of my Department have participated actively in the work of the preparatory committee which is tackling the substantive and technical difficulties still standing in the way of the establishment of the court. One outstanding issue is the determination of the crimes which will come within the court's jurisdiction.
Ireland participated in the negotiation of UN General Assembly resolution 51/207, adopted on 16 December last. I am pleased to inform the House that the resolution provides for the holding of a diplomatic conference in 1998 charged with the finalisation and the adoption of a convention on the establishment of an international criminal court.
