For the first time in English law we have an Act of Parliament that takes precedence over the Royal Prerogative and binds the Crown and everyone in the public service of the Crown. By enacting this war law, Parliament blocked the legal loopholes that have enabled past British leaders to commit war crimes with impunity. Criminal responsibility for the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes now lies with those who commit them, those who commission them and those who condone or support them, and all such persons can be held to account for these crimes in court.
Article 25 of the Rome Statute and sections 51 and 52 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 not only place criminal responsibility for the deaths caused by war on the Monarch, the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet, senior civil servants, MPs and the military commanders responsible for commissioning acts of war; but equally place criminal responsibility on the servicemen and women, arms manufacturers, suppliers and taxpayers who aid, abet, incite or facilitate the commission of these crimes. No longer can individuals evade joint responsibility for crimes committed by our political leaders.
All military personnel, taxpayers and ordinary citizens who support, obey or condone the orders of their government or Parliament to wage aggressive war in which people are killed, are not only criminally liable for a crime against peace under the Nuremburg Principles, but under this new legislation they become accessories to the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and render themselves liable to prosecution in Britain or The Hague.
It is a common error in Britain to believe that the law is different or somehow suspended in times of war. This is not the case. That the nation is at war provides no legal protection, excuse or defence to these crimes. This means that since 2002, if one or more persons is injured or killed through the deliberate action of Britain’s military forces against a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, then a crime of genocide has been committed and those responsible for it are criminally liable and may be indicted and tried for the offence. So for example if an RAF officer under orders fires a rocket or drops a bomb that causes death or injury to men, women and children in Iraq, then he or she together with the political, civil and military commanders who commissioned the bombing can be charged with a war crime. If any member of HM armed forces intentionally kills or injures one or more persons who are members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as part of a widespread or systematic attack on that group, then both the individual killer and all those in the chain of command responsible for giving the orders to attack, are criminally responsible for the crimes of ‘genocide’ or ‘conduct ancillary to genocide’.
"The principle of international law, which under certain circumstances protects the representatives of a state, cannot be applied to acts which are condemned as criminal by international law. The authors of these facts cannot shelter themselves behind their official position in order to be freed from punishment in appropriate proceedings"
Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal
