O'Connor SimonINTERNATIONAL TREATY EXAMINATIONSWar Crimes Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court—Report of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade CommitteeSIMON O'CONNOR (Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee): I move That the House take note of the report of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee on the International Treaty Examination of The War Crimes Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Madam Speaker firstly to acknowledge you—first time I've been able to address this House with you in the chair. Congratulations. But on to more interesting topics shall we say. Look this is a fairly—Hon Member: An insult. SIMON O'CONNOR: I was trying to think—we don't wish to insult the Speaker but nor what's in here; very delicate. The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee has taken on board these effectively two sets of amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It goes without saying that this House supports the International Criminal Court and we support the two sets of recommendations which I'll touch on in a moment coming through this House. The intention of this treaty is obviously first and foremost for New Zealand to agree to it and then to anticipate if you will domestic legislation coming into this House. The committee report is light; however that should not be mistaken as a report without substance. I hope as I go through the changes it'll become very clear to the House—members themselves will know why but for those in the House they'll begin to understand why it's a fairly simple report. First and foremost the changes put forward at two conferences are simple. Secondly there was unanimity on the committee and three we don't see any problems of moving through the House. As I say we anticipate domestic legislation first and foremost—as I often repeat ad nauseam—is required of New Zealand law to bring any international treaties into force. The second is that we operate with the principle of complementarity when it comes to the International Criminal Court—that is New Zealand should where it can prosecute war crimes itself. So what does this do? Long and the short it expands slightly those actions or in particular the use of certain substances or weapons systems that are deemed to be criminal on the international and importantly the non-international stage. So in 2010 in Kampala various States and parties got together to say that the court should have expanded jurisdiction in I would stress non-international conflicts—so we're probably thinking the likes of Syria not exclusively—but that poisonous or poisonous weapons can be within the jurisdiction of the court as can asphyxiating poisonous or other gases and analogous liquids materials or devices and also expanding bullets. So relatively simple and straightforward. I want to stress that in Kampala that was to do with non-international jurisdictions. In 2017 there was a further meeting of State parties; this will apply to international and non-international activities. That's where there's going to be criminality brought to the use of biological weapons or munitions that are designed to injure with fragments particularly those that can escape the detection by X-rays—just ponder that one for a moment—and laser weapons that can be deployed to cause blindness. So long and the short relatively simple relatively straightforward—that's why the committee was very happy to bring this forward and has reported on it very very quickly. One small interesting note—it's somewhat timely with activities that are going on at the moment—this does not apply to Tokelau according to the National Interest Analysis. Actually the ratification does not actually extend to the Realm which is confusing to me I must admit. It doesn't extend to Tokelau and so no formal consultation was required. So actually these changes as they currently stand do not apply to Tokelau. So I encourage the Prime Minister while she is over there [Interruption]—you knew what was coming. I encourage the Prime Minister to have a chat—she's there for three days—to see what can be worked out. But I'm very happy to commend this report to the House.