Public and Commercial Services Union

What is it?

Universal jurisdiction is the principle is that no country should be a safe haven for those who commit crimes universally recognised as war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

In effect, it means that any person who commits crimes such as genocide or torture in another country can be prosecuted in the UK if they visit here.  It means justice without borders.

The issue

The Poice Reform Bill includes proposals that would allow the Director of Public Prosectutions (DPP), who is appointed and "superintended" by a government minister, the Attorney General, to have a veto over whether a suspect is arrested, no matter how clear the evidence.

This would make it much more difficult to obtain an arrest warrant for anyone accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The DPP could find themselves under immense pressure from the Attorney General to refuse an arrest warrant application if it was for a person from what the government considered to be an 'ally' country.

Take action now 

The situation is critical as the Bill is currently being debated in parliament.

Send your MP an email asking them to vote against the proposed changes. It takes just 2 minutes using our template.