General policy statement

The purpose of this Bill is to implement the Amendment to the Statute of Rome 1998, pertaining to the crime of aggression, as adopted in Resolution 6 of the ReviewConference of the States Parties in Kampala, 11 June 2010.

Implementation by New Zealand is to be achieved through this Bill in the following ways:

1 to ensure that the use of armed force by New Zealand is always in conformity with international law and in particular the UN Charter; and to protect New Zealand leaders from external pressure to commit the New Zealand Defence Force to any illegal action overseas:

2 to ensure that no leader of another State uses armed force against New Zealand with impunity.

To that end, this Bill—

(a) requires that New Zealand observe its binding obligation under the UN Charter not to commit an act of aggression:

(b) makes it a criminal offence in New Zealand law for any New Zealand leader to commit an act of aggression:

(c) requires a New Zealand leader to obtain the written advice of the Attorney-General before deciding to engage the armed forces of New Zealand in action involving the use of force:

(d) makes it a criminal offence in New Zealand law for any leader of any other State to commit aggression against New Zealand:

(e) recognises that NewZealand or any other State may engage in the use of armed force, under the UN Charter, in exercise of the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence or in any other manner properly authorised by the Security Council of the United Nations.

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