Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the law on universal jurisdiction; and in particular, what plans they have to expand the scope of section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001, namely the group of perpetrators who can be tried for international crimes in domestic courts.

The criminal law of England and Wales provides for universal jurisdiction over the crimes of torture and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, allowing national authorities to investigate and prosecute these offences under certain conditions when they were committed abroad by foreign nationals. The International Criminal Court Act 2001 allows jurisdiction over the offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed abroad by any person who: (i) is/was a UK national or UK resident at the time of the crime; or (ii) became a UK national or UK resident after the crime and still resides in the UK when proceedings are brought. There are no plans to reform the law on universal jurisdiction.