IF THE UK ATTORNEY'S OFFICE GOT VETO POWER, WOULD THEY USE IT ALTRUISTICALLY?

The UK's attorney general would like to get the authority to veto arrest warrants against Israeli politicians:

(IsraelNN.com) United Kingdom Attorney General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, suggested that British law could be amended to give her office the power to veto arrest warrants for foreign political figures accused of war crimes.

Baroness Scotland's statement was made while delivering the annual Lionel Cohen Lecture of the Law Faculty of Hebrew University in Jerusalem Tuesday night in answer to a question concerning the recent British warrant for the arrest of Israeli Opposition leader Knesset Member Tzipi Livni. An Israeli military delegation also cancelled a trip planned for this week upon being told by the British army that it could not guarantee preventing their possible arrests.

The lecture, entitled “Lawfare: Time for Rules of Engagement," dealt with the dilemmas involved in the response of governments to the misuse of the courts for political ends. Baroness Scotland explained that the government must retain the principle of giving citizens access to the law, but must find a way to prevent abuse of this access as a politically motivated tactic. Britain also cannot give up the right to prosecute real war criminals from other countries so as not to provide them with safe haven.

As much as I'd like to think this great news, I've been too well aware of the mindset dominating the UK for a long time, and can only wonder if conservative politicians will be garunteed the same safety as liberal ones. And if the previous news is any suggestion, the Baroness' words cannot be taken at face value. Nor can we be sure the UK will use future laws passed to ensure that the Hamas, for example, will be prosecuted if they come onto UK soil. So this alone does not give me reason to be optimistic.