Indicting Blair

A group of British lawyers have presented a petition to the International Criminal Court demanding that Tony Blair and several of his cabinet ministers be indicted for war crimes over the decision to invade Iraq.

Bush may be beyond the ICC's jurisdiction, but Blair is well within its reach. Of course, the ICC has an out - crimes must be investigated by local courts first - but the British government is in no hurry to put itself on trial, and it is difficult to see what Blair could be charged with ("waging an illegal war of aggression" is not a crime in British law as far as I am aware). Which makes the ICC the right forum for this. And as one of the lawyers points out, trying to dodge the issue will undermine the court's credability:

"What is the point of having an international court if... it will only look at banana republics or African states or countries that have greater vulnerability than the leaders of the west - which can operate above and beyond the rule of law?"

The ICC was founded to provide fair and impartial justice over international offences such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. It's time it started doing its job. It should accept the petition, start an investigation, and if necessary, put Blair on trial.