HC Deb 15 October 1942 vol 383 cc1782-3W
Sir R. Gower

asked the. Attorney-General whether, having regard to the present law which, as a general rule, prevents British courts from dealing with persons who have committed crimes against British subjects outside this country and, in consequence, will allow Germans who have committed serious offences against British subjects in Germany, after the war to come to this country with immunity from prosecution, he will consider the desirability of instituting legislation altering the law upon the subject?

The Attorney-General

I presume that my hon. Friend's Question is directed to the punishment of war criminals after the war—a subject which was debated in another place on Wednesday, 7th October, when my Noble Friend the Lord Chancellor surveyed the subject and made some announcements of policy in which the President of the United States and the Allied Governments now resident in London concurred. A large number of other questions connected with the subject remain to be considered with our Allies, and the point of domestic legislation mentioned by my hon. Friend is not being overlooked.