Reform considered after Livni arrest warrant
Government looks at law change after London court issued arrest warrant for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni
Wednesday, 16, Dec 2009 12:50
By Mike Trudeau.
The government is looking to change the law that allowed a London court to issue an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, former Israeli foreign minister.
Westminster magistrates' court issued an arrest warrant for Ms Livni on Saturday, but revoked it on Monday after discovering that she was not in the country.
Ms Livni was due to visit the UK but cancelled her trip, allegedly for reasons unrelated to the warrant.
Foreign secretary David Miliband said that the government was "looking urgently at ways in which the UK system might be changed in order to avoid this sort of situation arising again".
"Israel is a strategic partner and a close friend of the UK," he said.
"We are determined to protect and develop these ties. Israeli leaders - like leaders from other countries - must be able to visit and have a proper dialogue with the British government."
Currently, UK law allows any group or individual to request an arrest warrant against anyone, regardless of where they are in the world. This is meant to protect civil liberties by keeping the judiciary separate from the government, and to discourage war criminals from avoiding the justice of international law by hiding in their own countries.
Ms Livni stated: "It's a lawsuit against any democracy who fights terror.
"I'm proud of the decisions I made as Israeli foreign minister in order to protect our civilians. I'm proud of the Israeli soldiers who have taken the necessary action in order to stop terrorism and taken all the necessary steps in order to avoid civil casualty.
"The war against Hamas is a war against those who don't care for civilian life or human rights," she continued.
UK Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis added: "As a result of these actions of the last 48 hours the government is absolutely determined to act to make sure that this can never happen again."