§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking within the UN Security Council to establish a tribunal to try for crimes against humanity persons allegedly responsible for preparation and commission of(a) the 11 September attacks in the US and (b) other international terrorist crimes. [19894]
§ Mr. BradshawInternational criminal courts are not a substitute for national jurisdictions. Their function is to prosecute perpetrators of crimes for which a relevant national jurisdiction is unable or unwilling to take action. That does not apply in the case of the 11 September attacks. Setting up a new international court or tribunal to try terrorism would cause great delay, not least since there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism.