Part 3 Other forms of assistance

Forms of assistance

29 Taking or production of evidence

(1) This section applies where the Secretary of State receives a request from the ICC for assistance in the taking or production of evidence.

Part 3 Other forms of assistance

Supplementary provisions

41 Transmission of material to the ICC

(1) Any evidence or other material obtained under this Part by a person other than the Secretary of State, together with any requisite verification, shall be sent to the Secretary of State for transmission to the ICC.
(2) Where any evidence or other material is to be transmitted to the ICC, there shall be transmitted—
(a) where the material consists of a document, the original or a copy, and
(b) where the material consists of any other article, the article itself or a photograph or other description of it,
as may be necessary to comply with the request of the ICC.

Article 93
Other forms of cooperation
1. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and under procedures of national law, comply with requests by the Court to provide the following assistance in relation to investigations or prosecutions:
(b) The taking of evidence, including testimony under oath, and the production of evidence, including expert opinions and reports necessary to the Court

Article 99
Execution of requests under articles 93 and 96
2. In the case of an urgent request, the documents or evidence produced in response shall, at
the request of the Court, be sent urgently.

This provision follows the ICC Statute.

The UK courts can compel the production of evidence in the same way as they could in national criminal proceedings (see e.g. Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 Part 28) and such evidence may be taken on oath. Evidence is defined widely, and includes documents. Production of evidence can be of the originals or copies and, in relation to real evidence, in either 2D or 3D form. If the evidence is fingerprint evidence or non-intimate samples then schedule 4 applies.