Genocide prevention could become legal priority for UK government

Cross-party group of lawyers, politicians and academics considers mechanism to halt crimes against humanity

Clearer legal obligations on the British government to prevent genocides, and to determine if one is occurring rather than leaving such judgments to international courts, are to be considered by a cross-party group of lawyers, politicians and academics under the chairmanship of Lady Helena Kennedy.

The new group, known as the standing group on atrocity crimes, says its genesis does not derive from a specific conflict such as Gaza or Xinjiang, but a wider concern that such crime is spreading as international law loses its purchase.