§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Solicitor-General what definition the Government use of the crime of genocide. [179539]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralBy virtue of section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 it is an offence under the law of England and Wales for a person to commit genocide. "Genocide" is defined in section 50(1) of the 2001 Act by reference to the definition of genocide in Article 6 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, done at Rome on 17 July 1998. Article 6 of the ICC Statute, which is set out in Schedule 8 to the 2001 Act, states that "genocide" means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in1200W part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) killing members of the group;(b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;(d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;(e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.Equivalent provision is made in relation to Northern Ireland by section 58 of the 2001 Act and in relation to Scotland by section 1 of the International Criminal Court (Scotland) Act 2001.