2 hours ago
Last Updated:November 23, 2024, 16:09 IST
Hungary and the US were among the countries that rejected the ICC decision to issue warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
UK PM Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said the UK would comply with international laws when asked if Israeli PM Netanyahu would be arrested on UK soil under ICC warrant. (IMAGE: REUTERS/AP)
The UK indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an Criminal Court (ICC) warrant if he visits. “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said on Friday.
Ireland, the UK’s neighbour, said that it would definitely arrest him if he visited the country. Hungary invited Netanyahu to formally visit and rejected the ICC decision which sought Netanyahu’s arrest for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The US also rejected the top international court’s decision to issue warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. US President Joe Biden denounced ICC’s decision as “outrageous".
The UK PM’s spokesperson, when asked directly whether Netanyahu would be arrested, said he would not “talk about specific cases".
Britain signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty that created the ICC, in 1998 and ratified it three years later.
The UK’s ICC Act 2001 stipulates that when a government minister receives a request from the ICC for the arrest of an indictee they “shall transmit the request and the documents accompanying it" to an appropriate court.
“If the request is accompanied by a warrant of arrest and the appropriate judicial officer is satisfied that the warrant appears to have been issued by the ICC, he shall endorse the warrant for execution in the United Kingdom," the act adds.
Officials say the act has not yet been used because someone charged by the ICC has never visited Britain.
G7 ministers meeting in Italy next week will discuss the Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Friday, saying the issue required further analysis.
Canada, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Switzerland are among the 124 ICC member countries that have agreed to enforce the arrest warrants. However, countries like Hungary, Czechia, and Argentina have announced they will not comply.
Location :London, United Kingdom (UK)
First Published:November 23, 2024, 16:09 IST
News world ‘Will Comply’: UK Indicates Netanyahu Could Be Arrested On ICC Warrant If He Visits
