Commenting on UK ministers and Government spokespeople today repeatedly refusing to say whether the UK authorities would arrest the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the UK - with ministers speaking instead of following “domestic processes” - Gerhard Kemp, Professor of Criminal Law at UWE Bristol, said:

“The UK government is hiding behind vague ‘domestic processes’ to avoid clearly saying that it will arrest Netanyahu should he enter the UK, as is the UK’s legal duty as a state party to the ICC. 

“These ICC arrest warrants were applied for months ago. The UK government must surely have prepared its position on the implications for the UK authorities should the arrest warrants be granted. 

“When the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, UK ministers immediately welcomed the step. Failing to do so in this instance looks like a clear case of double standards that damages the administration of justice.”

Earlier this month, Professor Kemp was part of a panel event with Amnesty International UK and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians discussing the worsening human rights crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The event - comprising Prof Kemp, Zaha Hassan, Itay Epshtain and Victor Kattan - discussed how the enforcement of international law can help secure justice for Palestinians.

Yesterday, in response to the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif), Amnesty UK’s Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh called on the UK government to “unequivocally” back the ICC’s arrest warrants.