Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendmentNo. 25:

In page 14, lines 7 to 9, to delete all words from and including "and" in line 7 down to and including "Court)" in line 9.

Aríst, tá baint aige seo le haighneacht a fuair muid ó Amnesty International mar gheall ar an Bhille seo.

Section 13 deals with the responsibility of civilian superiors. In its submission, Amnesty International argued that Article 28 of the Rome Statute provides for a much weaker standard of responsibility for civilian superiors than the relatively strict responsibility for military commanders. This is due to the political compromise arrived at in the drafting conference as a result of pressure from the United States of America and several other countries. It watered down a previously existing international standard. Article 28 of the statute does not accord with customary international law which holds that civilian superiors adhere to the same strict standards of responsibility for their actions as do military commanders.

Amnesty International believes, and I support it, that the Bill should be amended to be consistent with international law by including the same standards for civilian superiors as those covering military commanders. Nothing in the Rome Statute or international law prevents a state from adopting stricter standards of command or superior responsibility than the statute provides. It was strange that this responsibility was watered down at drafting stage, given that the existing international standard imposed equal accountability on civilian and military superiors. This is in part a legacy of the Second World War, in which military commanders and civilian superiors were responsible for genocide and other war crimes.

Once again, we have an opportunity to set the standard and encourage other countries, which have not given effect to the Rome Statute or the International Criminal Court, to consider providing for the higher level of responsibility. Amendments Nos. 25 and 26 have the same intention. They simply state that whether one is in a military or civilian vehicle if one is responsible for an offence covered by the International Criminal Court the court will view both situations equally.

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