Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL131):
Question:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they undertook, if any, in response to the report by Hogan Lovells Crimes against humanity: An independent legal opinion on the findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, published on 18 June 2014; and what assessment they have made of whether their response to that report met their duties under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. (HL131)
Tabled on: 12 May 2021
Answer:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon:
We noted the Hogan Lovells report of 18 June 2014. The UK is fully committed to honouring its legal obligations under the Genocide Convention. The Government’s longstanding policy is that any judgment on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for competent courts. These include international courts, such as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national criminal courts that meet international standards of due process. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of international law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.
Date and time of answer: 24 May 2021 at 15:28.
