Commentary on Sections Part 5: Offences under Domestic Law Section 56: Saving for general principles of liability
100.The Statute sets out certain general principles of law to be followed by the ICC in its proceedings. Although these are mostly similar to those applicable under the law of England and Wales, there are some differences. Therefore, for consistency with other parts of national criminal law,subsection (1) provides that the domestic courts will apply the principles of the law of England and Wales in trying offences under this Part.
101.Subsection (2) preserves existing enactments and rules in respect of the extraterritorial application of offences and in respect of offences ancillary to offences under this Part. For example, the provision for extraterritorial jurisdiction over grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957, is unaffected. Existing principles of secondary liability apply in relation to offences created under Part 5 of the Act.