Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question.

The Government of Canada does not take the position that the prosecutor does not have the right to request this. Thank you for underlining the actual stage of the process we’re at.

The Government of Canada was an early founding supporter of the ICC and respects its jurisdiction. However, that doesn’t mean that the Government of Canada is prepared to take a position in advance of the decision of the judges faced with the request of the prosecutor. In that regard, as I tried to point out in the earlier question — and as a jurist, you would understand — there are actual legal requirements the ICC judges have to — and, one expects, will — take into account in evaluating this. We’ll have to wait and see how they apply those criteria in their decision making.