Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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274. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which Ireland, directly or through the aegis of the EU or UN, can promote the prosecution of those engaged in war crimes with a view to referral to the European criminal courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34204/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The International Criminal Court, which is an independent international body with close links to the United Nations, was established as the first permanent international court to end impunity for the perpetrators of international crimes. The Court was established in 2002 with the entry into force of the Rome Statute. Ireland is a party to the Rome Statute.  The Court promotes and upholds the rule of law and provides a means to bring to account the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, including war crimes. In this way it contributes in a most fundamental way to the cause of international peace and justice. 

While the ICC is central to the overall framework for international criminal justice, it is a court of last resort. The ICC does not substitute for national judicial systems. States bear the primary responsibility to investigate the most serious international crimes. There is also a range of other international criminal justice mechanisms aimed at ensuring accountability. While individual EU Member States may investigate and prosecute international crimes, and cooperate with each other in this regard, the EU and therefore the EU Court of Justice have limited competence with respect to criminal law matters.

Referrals to the International Criminal Court may only be made with respect to crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court namely: the crime of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.  The Court’s jurisdiction is limited to the territory or nationals of States Parties to the Rome Statute, States that have accepted the Court’s jurisdiction on an ad hoc basis and situations referred to it by the Security Council of the United Nations. This jurisdiction must be triggered in one of three ways: a situation may be referred to the Court by a State Party to the Rome Statute; a situation may be referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council; or the Prosecutor may initiate a propio motu investigation into crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court (an investigation on the Prosecutor’s own initiative). Referrals by the United Nations Security Council are made pursuant to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, and must receive nine affirmative votes at the Council. Any one of the five permanent Council Members (P5) has the power to veto a proposed referral.  

Ireland, together with its EU partners has been, and continues to be, a consistent and strong supporter of the International Criminal Court. Furthermore, ensuring accountability is one of the key principles underpinning our engagement on the United Nations Security Council. We will support and defend the Court throughout our two-year term on the Council, which started on 1 January 2021 and continue to seek accountability as a key foreign policy priority in all relevant international fora.