(LONDON, July 10, 2026)—The U.K. Parliament should pass the Genocide Determination Bill, which would create a formal legal pathway for British courts to make preliminary determinations on genocide or the serious risk of genocide abroad, Fortify Rights said today. The House of Lords is scheduled to hold the bill’s Second Reading on July 17.
Introduced by Lord Alton of Liverpool, a member of the Fortify Rights Leadership Council, the bill would empower victims and survivors of genocide, as well as organizations representing them, to apply to the High Court in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or the Court of Session in Scotland, for a preliminary determination that genocide is occurring, has occurred, or that there is a serious risk of genocide. If the court makes such a determination, a U.K. Secretary of State would be required to act, including by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the U.N. Security Council, or other competent international bodies. “If we hope to live in a world free from genocide, we have to be able to determine when it is happening, has happened, or may happen,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. “For years, the U.K. Government has said courts should make genocide determinations, but it has failed to create a meaningful way for courts to make those determinations. This bill closes that gap. It gives survivors a pathway to justice, gives courts a clear role, and gives the government a legal basis to act before atrocities spiral further out of control.” The Genocide Determination Bill is especially important because the U.K.’s long-standing position has been that genocide is a matter for competent courts rather than political determination. However, in most cases of genocide committed abroad, British courts have no practical mechanism to make such a determination unless the case involves criminal proceedings against British nationals or residents. This has allowed successive governments to avoid making determinations while claiming that courts must do so.
The result has been a needless, deadly, and dangerous policy dead end, said Fortify Rights, with the government deferring to the courts while no law existed to empower them to decide the matter.
The Genocide Determination Bill would help solve this problem by creating a judicial mechanism focused not on individual criminal liability but on whether the evidence establishes genocide or the serious risk of genocide. This distinction is critical. The purpose of the bill is not to replace criminal trials or international justice mechanisms, but to trigger timely government action in line with the U.K.’s existing obligations under the Genocide Convention.
“For ten years, I’ve been trying to get the policy on genocide determination changed,” said Lord Alton in a video posted to social media, urging members of both Houses of Parliament “across the political divide” to support the bill. “We cannot go on letting people get away with the crime above all crimes, the apex crime, the crime against humanity that is genocide. It’s time to break the vicious circle.”
Under the Genocide Convention, states have the duty to prevent and punish genocide. The duty to prevent is triggered not only after genocide has been completed, but when a state learns, or should have learned, of a serious risk that genocide may occur or is in the process of occuring. A domestic legal mechanism for identifying that risk or its actual occurence would help ensure that the U.K. Government cannot plausibly claim ignorance or hide behind procedural uncertainty while communities face destruction.
Fortify Rights has documented and supported accountability efforts for genocide and atrocity crimes in several contexts, including Myanmar, where Rohingya communities have faced genocide and mass atrocity crimes by the Myanmar military and its operatives. Fortify Rights is also engaged in advocacy related to the Uyghur genocide in China and has reported on atrocity crimes in Ukraine, North Korea, and other contexts.
The need for the U.K. bill is clear. In the case of the Rohingya, years of warnings, detailed documentation, and unassailable evidence preceded the Myanmar military’s 2017 genocidal campaign, which forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. In Xinjiang, Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim communities have faced mass detention, family separation, forced labor, forced sterilization, and other grave abuses. In other places where Fortify Rights does not yet work, such as in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan, atrocities have escalated amid repeated warnings of genocide. In each case, states, including the U.K., had opportunities to act earlier, more decisively, and with greater legal clarity, but failed to do so.
Importantly, the Genocide Determination Bill would center around survivors and affected communities. Instead of leaving determinations solely to the government's discretion, the bill would allow victims, survivors, and representative organizations to present evidence before an independent and impartial court. This would help ensure that those most affected by genocide or imminent risks of genocide can access a measure of justice regardless of political convenience, diplomatic calculations, or trade interests.
The bill includes safeguards against frivolous claims by requiring regulations on admissibility, procedure, evidence, and contradictory representations. These safeguards would help ensure the mechanism is rigorous, fair, and credible, said Fortify Rights.
If a court makes a preliminary determination, the bill requires a U.K. Secretary of State to make available referrals as soon as practicable and no later than 30 days after the determination. If the government fails to act, the Secretary of State would be required to explain to Parliament why no referral has been made and how the U.K.’s obligations to prevent or punish genocide are being fulfilled. Parliament could then compel applicable referrals by resolution. In the U.K., “Secretary of State” is a formal title for senior government ministers who head major departments, such as the Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Justice Secretary, and Defense Secretary.
This structure is both principled and practical and would set a positive example worldwide. It respects the government’s position that genocide determinations should be legal rather than political, while ensuring that legal determinations lead to action. It also reinforces Parliament's role in overseeing the government’s response to the gravest international crimes.
Fortify Rights calls on members of the House of Lords and House of Commons to support the Genocide Determination Bill and ensure its passage without delay.
The U.K. should also strengthen its broader atrocity-prevention architecture, including by ensuring that government departments have effective mechanisms to identify serious risks of genocide and other atrocity crimes, respond rapidly to early warning signs, and support accountability through sanctions, evidence preservation, international referrals, and cooperation with justice mechanisms.
Following testimony delivered by Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith to the U.K. Parliament on the issue of atrocity prevention on June 23, 2026, Fortify Rights urged the U.K. to lead a coalition of states to refer the full situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court under Article 14 of the Rome Statute, impose new targeted sanctions against the Myanmar military and its sources of revenue and aviation fuel, restore and increase life-saving aid to refugees and displaced people from Myanmar, and expand support for human rights defenders documenting atrocity crimes.“Genocide is not only a crime to punish after the fact, but is a crime that states are legally bound to prevent, and this bill would help with that,” said Matthew Smith. “When survivors and affected communities bring credible evidence of genocide or the serious risk of genocide, the U.K. should not look away or hide behind process. Parliament should pass this bill to help make ‘Never Again’ a legally enforceable commitment with consequences. Passing the Genocide Determination Bill would send a clear message that the U.K. will not allow legal uncertainty or political caution to obstruct action in the face of genocide.” |
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