HC Deb 27 November 2001 vol 375 cc807-8W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the United States following the passage of the International Criminal Court Act 2001; what UN state parties have now ratified the International Criminal Court Convention; and which members of the Council of Europe have not ratified it. [17769]

Peter Hain

Since the passage of the International Criminal Court Act on 11 May 2001, the United Kingdom has continued regularly to use our wide bilateral contacts with the United States to explain that we believe US reservations about the ICC are unfounded, and to encourage the US to ratify the Rome Statute. In addition we have participated in European Union action to the same end. The presidency of the European Union wrote to the Secretary of State Powell on 30 October 2001, drawing his attention to the EU Common Position of full support for the early entry into the force of the ICC Statute. The letter expresses the hope that the US will change its mind on the ICC and will not, in the meantime, obstruct those states which support the court and wish to seek to accede to it.

The following 46 UN member states have, as at 22 November 2001, ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): Senegal,

Scottish Ministers attendance at Council 1 July 1999— September 2001
Year/date Council Minister
1999
24–25 September Informal meeting of Ministers of Education (Finland) Sam Galbraith
26 October Fisheries Council (Luxembourg) John Home Robertson
22 November Fisheries Council (Brussels) John Home Robertson
13 December Environment Council (Brussels) Sarah Boyack
14 December Agriculture Council (Brussels) Ross Finnie
16 December Fisheries Council (Brussels) John Home Robertson
2000
17–18 March Informal Council for Ministers of Lifelong Learning (Portugal) Nicol Stephen
20 March Agriculture Council (Brussels) Ross Finnie
8 June Education Council (Luxembourg) Nicol Stephen
16 June Fisheries Council (Luxembourg) John Home Robertson
22 June Environment Council (Brussels) Sarah Boyack
17 November Fisheries Council (Brussels) Rhona Brankin
20 November Agriculture Council (Brussels) Ross Finnie
30 November Justice and Home Affairs Council (Brussels) Jim Wallace
14–15 December Fisheries Council (Brussels) Rhona Brankin
2001
12 February Education and Youth Council (Brussels) Nicol Stephen
26 February Agriculture Council (Brussels) Ross Finnie
8 March Environment Council (Brussels) Sam Galbraith
24 April Agriculture Council (Luxembourg) Ross Finnie
25 April Fisheries Council (Luxembourg) Rhona Brankin
4 June Health Council (Luxembourg) Susan Deacon
18 June Fisheries Council (Luxembourg) Rhona Brankin
28 June Transport Council (Luxembourg) Sarah Boyack
13 July Informal Council on Regional Policy (Namur) Angus MacKay

Trinidad and Tobago, San Marino, Italy, Fiji, Ghana, Norway, Belize, Tajikistan, Iceland, Venezuela, France, Belgium, Canada, Mali, Lesotho, New Zealand, Botswana, Luxembourg, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Spain, South Africa, Marshall Islands, Germany, Austria, Finland, Argentina, Dominica, Andorra, Paraguay, Croatia, Costa Rica, Antigua and Barbuda, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Liechtenstein, Central African Republic, United Kingdom (on 4 October 2001), Switzerland, Peru, Nauru and Poland.

The following 23 member states of the Council of Europe have not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine. The following three applicant member states have not ratified: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Monaco.

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