PM\u2019s spokesman says UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and international law
\n London
\nThe British government indicated on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant if he travelled to the UK.
\nThe ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and ex-defence minister Yoav Gallant in response to accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israel\u2019s aggression in Gaza.
\nPrime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s spokesman refused to be drawn specifically on whether UK police would detain Netanyahu, telling reporters he would not \u201cget into hypotheticals in relation to individual cases\u201d.
\nBut he added: \u201cThe UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.\u201d
\nBritain signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty that created the ICC, in 1998 and ratified it three years later.
\nThe UK\u2019s ICC Act 2001 stipulates that when a government minister receives a request from the ICC for the arrest of an indictee they \u201cshall transmit the request and the documents accompanying it\u201d to an appropriate court.
\n\u201cIf the request is accompanied by a warrant of arrest and the appropriate judicial officer is satisfied that the warrant appears to have been issued by the ICC, he shall endorse the warrant for execution in the United Kingdom,\u201d the act adds.
\nOfficials say the act has not yet been used because someone charged by the ICC has never visited Britain.
\nIt is not clear whether the UK court process begins after the ICC issues the arrest or once the indicted person lands on British soil. \u201cWe would obviously fulfil our obligations under the act,\u201d added Starmer\u2019s spokesman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PM\u2019s spokesman says UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and international law London The British government indicated on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant if he travelled to the UK. The ICC on Thursday issued arrest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-445394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n