Parliament paves way for Swiss to join world court

The Senate has given the green light for Switzerland to become a member of the planned International Court of Justice. The court, to be based in The Hague, will try perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court will be expected to intervene in cases where individual countries do not have the means or are not willing to pursue such criminals and punish them.

The issue of the world court has caused controversy in Switzerland with some parliamentarians questioning whether handing over a Swiss national to an international court would contravene their constitutional rights.

But the Senate accepted the opinion of legal experts who said this would not be the case provided Switzerland ratified the treaty which paves the way for the creation of the court.

Before becoming an active member of the court, Switzerland will have to change its legislation to accommodate the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity, such as apartheid, slavery and torture.

A first step in this direction was taken in December when genocide was included in the penal code as a federal offence.

According to the Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, plans for the International Criminal Court have so far been ratified by 34 countries. At least 60 must ratify the treaty before the court can become operational.

swissinfo with agencies