Palestinian Membership of the ICC: A Preliminary Analysis

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Notes

¹ICC Press Release, ‘The State of Palestine accedes to the Rome Statute’ (7 January 2015) http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pages/pr1082_2.aspx.

²‘See You in Court’, The Economist (London, 10 January 2015) http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21638151-will-joining-international-criminal-court-further-palestines-cause-see-you.

³The term ‘atrocity crimes’ is used as an umbrella term for crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. See D Scheffer, ‘Genocide and Atrocity Crimes’ (2006) 1 Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal 229, 229.

⁴I Lazareva, ‘Palestinian Authority Formally Joins ICC – But What Will it Mean for Israel and PA?’, The Telegraph (London, 1 April 2015) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/11505741/Palestinian-Authority-to-formally-join-ICC-but-what-will-it-mean-for-Israel-and-PA.html.

⁵ICC Press Release, ‘ICC Welcomes Palestine as a new State Party’ (1 April 2015) http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pages/pr1103.aspx.

⁶Palestine, ‘Declaration Accepting the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court’ (31 December 2014) http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/PIDS/press/Palestine_A_12-3.pdf.

⁷ICC Press Release, ‘The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, opens a preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine’ (16 January 2015) http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pages/pr1083.aspx.

⁸See C Meloni and G Tognoni (eds), Is There a Court for Gaza? A Test Bench for International Justice (Springer, 2012).

⁹Palestine, ‘Declaration Recognizing the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court’ (21 January 2009) http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/74EEE201-0FED-4481-95D4-C8071087102C/279777/20090122PalestinianDeclaration2.pdf.

¹⁰Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (17 July 1998) UN Doc A/CONF.183/9 (Rome Statute), art 12(3).

¹¹Rome Statute, art 11(1).

¹²M Shaw, ‘The Article 12(3) Declaration of the Palestinian Authority, the International Criminal Court and International Law’ (2011) 9 JICJ 301.

¹³ICC Office of the Prosecutor, ‘Situation in Palestine’ (3 April 2012) http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/C6162BBF-FEB9-4FAF-AFA9-836106D2694A/284387/SituationinPalestine030412ENG.pdf.

¹⁴ Ibid, para 5.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Ibid, para 7.

¹⁷See J Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law (OUP, 2007).

¹⁸ICC Office of the Prosecutor (n 14), para 8.

¹⁹UNGA Res 67/19 (29 November 2012) UN Doc A/RES/67/19.

²⁰Fatou Bensouda, ‘The Truth about the ICC and Gaza’ The Guardian (London, 29 August 2014) http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/29/icc-gaza-hague-court-investigate-war-crimes-palestine.

²¹Rome Statute, art 11(2).

²²ICC Office of the Prosecutor, ‘Policy Paper on Preliminary Examinations’ (November 2013) para 19 http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Documents/OTP%20Preliminary%20Examinations/OTP%20-%20Policy%20Paper%20Preliminary%20Examinations%20%202013.pdf.

²³ Ibid, paras 19 and 34.

²⁴ICC Office of the Prosecutor, ‘Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2014″ (2 December 2014) para 15 http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/otp/OTP-Pre-Exam-2014.pdf.

²⁵ Ibid, 5.

²⁶Rome Statute, art 8.

²⁷ Ibid, art 12(2)(b).

²⁸Palestine (n 6).

²⁹Rome Statute, art 12(2)(a).

³⁰Fatou Bensouda (n 20).

³¹E Kontorovich, ‘Israel/Palestine – The ICC's Unchartered Territory’ (2013) 11 JICJ 979, 982.

³²Rome Statute, art 15(3).

³³ICC Registry ‘Declarations Art. 12(3)’http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/structure%20of%20the%20court/registry/pages/declarations.aspx.

³⁴ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II, ‘Decision pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute on the Authorization of an Investigation into the Situation in the Republic of Kenya’ (31 March 2010) paras 210–211 http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc854287.pdf.

³⁵Rome Statute, art 19(1).

³⁶ICC Appeals Chamber, ‘Judgment on the Appeal of Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo against the Decision on the Defence Challenge to the Jurisdiction of the Court Pursuant to Article 19(2)(a) of the Statute of 3 October 2006″ (14 December 2006) para 3 http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc243774.pdf.

³⁷Rome Statute, art 19(2)(b).

³⁸UNHRC, ‘Report of the Independent Commission’ (25 June 2015) UN Doc A/HRC/29/52.

³⁹See para 10 of the preamble to the Rome Statute.

⁴⁰Rome Statute, art 15(3). For a thorough analysis of the complementarity principle see J Stigen, The Relationship between the International Criminal Court and National Jurisdictions: The Principle of Complementarity (Brill Nijhoff 2008).

⁴¹P Beaumont, ‘ICC Urges Israel to Cooperate in Inquiry into Possible Breaches in Palestine’ The Guardian (London, 13 May 2015) http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/may/13/icc-urges-israel-to-cooperate-in-inquiry-into-possible-breaches-in-palestine.

⁴²Rome Statute, arts 18(2) and 19(2)(b).

⁴³See the ICC's preliminary examinations in Afghanistan, Columbia, Georgia and Guinea. ICC Office of the Prosecutor 2014 (n 24).

⁴⁴UNHRC 2015 (n 38), para 74.

⁴⁵O Dorell, ‘Israel: U.N. Report on Gaza War is Biased’ USA Today (Virginia, 22 June 2015) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/06/22/israel-reaction-to-un-human-rights-report-gaza/29115263/.

⁴⁶P Beaumont (n 41).

⁴⁷For a thorough analysis of the ICC's jurisdiction over non-member nationals see D Akande, ‘The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-Parties: Legal Basis and Limits’ (2003) 1 JICJ 618.

⁴⁸P Beaumont (n 41).

⁴⁹Rome Statute, art 8(2)(b)(vii).

⁵⁰UNHRC, ‘Report of the Independent International Factfinding Mission to Investigate the Implications of the Israeli Settlements’ (7 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/63.7, para 104.

⁵¹W Scahbas, A Commentary on the Rome Statute (OUP 2010), 234.

⁵²Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall (Advisory Opinion) 2004 paras 79, 52–54 and 120 http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf.

⁵³Oslo Accords Interim Agreement Annex IV, art 1(2) (28 September 1995).

⁵⁴For a detailed and engaging analysis of the legal questions raised by the settlements and territorial jurisdiction see Kontorovich (n 31) and the answer to this article by Y Ronen, ‘Israel, Palestine and the ICC – Territory Unchartered but Not Unknown’ (2014) 12 JICJ 7.

⁵⁵For details on all the situations currently under preliminary examination see ICC Office of the Prosecutor (n 24).