MP Takes on Arrest Law
A Labour MP's audacious move to finally amend the law that prevents Israeli politicians from travelling to the UK without fear of arrest has been backed by the Israeli Embassy.
Amid communal concern at the government's failure to make good on a pledge to reform the law of universal jurisdiction, Andrew Dismore this week tabled a bill that would make it a requirement for the attorney general to give consent before arrest warrants can be issued for alleged war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act.
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But Dismore, the MP for Hendon, is hoping that his Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 Amendment Bill - which specifically addresses universal jurisdiction in relation to war crimes and is due to receive its second reading on Friday - will enable Livni and other Israeli officials to come to this country without the threat of arrest.
He described the bill as "a tool to try to keep the issue in parliament and to get something done. If we're serious about the peace process then foreign politicians ought to be able to come here for discussions. It's been an issue waiting for a solution for some time. There's the political will to do it but nobody has devised a way to achieve it. My idea should move things along. It will work in the short term but the longer term may require a fuller solution." Dismore claimed that the current situation could also see the arrest of "former American presidents over Iraq allegations".
He is now hoping that the bill does not attract objections in Parliament on Friday, which would prevent it from reaching the committee stage of the legislative process. Even if it does reach committee, Dismore acknowledged that the chances of it becoming law before the general election were "slim" because of the lack of time remaining.
An Israeli Embassy spokesman said: "We welcome this and any move that may assist in solving the problem of universal jurisdiction." Board of Deputies Chief Executive Jon Benjamin said: "We continue to be disturbed by the lack of progress, despite government assurances."
During a Conservative Friends of Israel reception this week, Shadow Foreign Office minister David Lidington reiterated his party's pledge to act on the issue. He told the Jewish News: "We think the present government should be putting this right. We will cooperate with them to do that. If they fail to do that before the election, a Tory government will put it right."
Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.
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