Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

I move amendment No. 34:

In page 17, lines 22 to 24, to delete all words from and including ", in" in line 22 down to and including "proceedings" in line 24 and substitute "in accordance with Article 94.1".

This amendment proposes to reflect more accurately the circumstances in which a postponement of the certification of a request by the Minister may be made. On the advice of the Parliamentary Counsel, this formula of words, which makes a direct reference to Article 94.1 of the Rome Statute, will avoid any conflict arising relating to the length of time for which the postponement may take place and the manner in which it takes place. As the Rome Statute sets out that the postponement must be carried out in consultation with the International Criminal Court, it would be inappropriate to change this provision to a mandatory one as proposed by Deputy Ó Snodaigh's amendment No. 33. This would interfere with the discretion afforded to the court by the statute.

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