§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will make a statement about the investigations made by United Nations authorities into allegations of misconduct by United Nations troops.
§ Mr. GodberI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave on this subject on 7th December in answer to a Question by the hon. and gallant Member for Arundel and Shoreham (Captain Kerby).
§ Captain Kerbyasked the Lord Privy Seal, in view of the impossibility of the United Nations carrying out an impartial investigation into acts of violence committed by United Nations troops in the Congo, if he will now ask the International Court of Justice at The Hague to send a permanent commission to the Congo to carry out on-the-spot investigations of such incidents.
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§ Mr. GodberI cannot accept the suggestion that it is impossible for the United Nations to carry out an impartial investigation—should it be necessary—into acts of the United Nations troops in the Congo. I do not think that it would be either practicable or helpful to the United Nations in their difficult task in the Congo to suggest that the International Court of Justice should intervene in this matter. Although the Court is empowered by Article 50 of its Statute to set up a commission of inquiry for the purpose of obtaining information in connection with the adjudication of a dispute or other legal proceedings before it, the establishment of a permanent investigating commission of the kind proposed would not be within the proper functions of the Court.