Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I move amendment No. 2:
In page 7, line 32, after “trial;” to insert the following:
“to give effect to the ratification by the State of certain amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to further enable authorities in the State to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, and for those and other related purposes to amend the International Criminal Court Act 2006;”.
I am pleased to introduce these amendments, which propose a number of technical amendments to the International Criminal Court Act 2006 to give necessary effect to Ireland's intended ratification of the amendments to Article 8 of the Rome Statute. The main objective of these amendments is to amend the International Criminal Court Act 2006 to make clear that war crimes within the meaning of the Act include Article 8 of the Rome Statute. Expanding the domestic definition of war crimes in this way will enable the State to give full effect to the principle of complementarity, which I spoke about earlier. These amendments will also provide a legislative basis to ensure that Ireland can fully co-operate with the International Criminal Court, ICC, in respect of all crimes.
Amendment No. 2 inserts new text into the Long Title of the Bill.
Amendment No. 36 is a standard definition that defines the International Criminal Court Act 2006 as the "Act of 2006". Amendments Nos. 33 and 35 are consequential on that.
Amendment No. 37 inserts some new terms for definition in the interpretation provision in section 2 of the 2006 Act. First, the definition of the Rome Statute is updated. Second, it defines the term "crime of aggression". Third, it defines the term "crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court". Fourth, in order to future-proof the extent of Ireland's ability to co-operate with the ICC, a new order-making power is inserted as a new section 64A in the 2006 Act. Finally, it inserts a new subsection (1A) to clarify that the term "crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court" includes an act for which criminal responsibility is provided for by Articles 25 to 27, inclusive, of the Rome Statute.
Amendment No. 38 inserts an additional subsection into section 6 of the 2006 Act to clarify that where following the commencement of the section, a relevant amendment has been adopted with respect to Articles 6 to 8, inclusive, of the Rome Statute.
Any reference to an article of the Rome Statute in section 6 should be construed without having regard to that relevant amendment.
Amendment No. 39 replaces section 8(1) of the 2006 Act with a new subsection clarifying that, in addition to applying to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, ancillary offences under the 2006 Act shall apply with respect to offences against the administration of justice, but not with respect to the crime of aggression. A new subsection (1A) will also be inserted in section 8 to clarify that for the purposes of subsection 1 account shall not be taken of any future relevant amendments that may be adopted to articles of the Rome Statute.
Amendment No. 40 ensures that no retroactive effect is given to the new domestic offences created by the amendments to the definition of the Rome Statute.
Amendment No. 41 clarifies that when the State exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction over war crimes, the referenced Article 8.2 of the Rome Statute shall not be construed as that Article, as amended by a relevant amendment.
Amendment No. 42 clarifies that the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration shall be able to request the ICC to provide assistance with a domestic investigation or prosecution of an offence against administration of justice, in addition to ICC offences or serious offences.
Amendment No. 43 inserts a new section 64A into the 2006 Act in order to confer an order-making power whereby should future amendments be adopted by the state parties to the Rome Statute definition of genocide, war crime and crime against humanity or the crime of aggression, an act specified in that amendment may be prescribed by the Government on my request, having consulted with the Minister for foreign affairs.
They are the amendments until we come to amendment No. 44, which makes a number of technical amendments to sections 4, 19, 22, 31, 37, 38, 50, 50A, 51, 52, 53, and 63 of the 2006 Act.
Amendments Nos. 45 and 72 insert an additional Schedule 1A into the 2006 Act. Part 1 of the Schedule will set out the three sets of amendments to Article 8.2.1.b and Article 8.2.1.e of the Rome Statute, concerning war crimes committed in international and non-international armed conflicts respectively, adopted in 2010, 2017 and 2019.
Part 2 will set out the amendments to the Rome Statute providing for the exercise of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.

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Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10