The government should take steps to define genocide, war crimes and crime against humanity to bring these on the statute book as it will help tackle the menace of terrorism, Bar Association of India Chairman and noted jurist Fali S Nariman said on Saturday.
"Even if we don't ratify the Rome Treaty, at least our penal laws should define these crimes so that those who commit such crimes can be punished... It can help us tackle the menace of terrorism," Nariman said at the inauguration of a workshop on International Criminal Court in New Delhi.
He said we should not give an impression that we were not interested in punishing the perpetrators of such crimes.
Observing that there was a common misconception about the ICC that it impinged upon the jurisdiction of national judicial systems, Nariman said on the contrary it was complementary to domestic legal set up.
Noting that the traditional notion of sovereignty was getting eroded in view of globalisation, he said there was a need to have a rethink on the issue.
The ICC is a permanent court to try those responsible for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and aggression. Several countries, including India and the US, have not ratified the Rome Treaty on ICC, which became operational in March 2003.
Senior Lawyer and president of the Criminal Justice Society of India, K T S Tulsi, said that in the changed scenario, the ICC assumed more significance as trans-national crimes like money laundering and terrorism were posing a great threat to domestic judicial systems.
