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Search: palestine icc

04 Jun

prospect of the ICC side-stepping a deadlocked UN Security Council to bring some modicum of justice to the Rohingya has excited many. Yet it is imperative that we remain sober because there is a thorny issue that was previously, and nearly universally, thought to bar ICC intervention—the lack of personal and territorial jurisdiction. An affirmative ruling on the Prosecutor’s request would be a Grotian moment of jurisdictional expansion for the ICC with consequences that will reach far beyond crimes in Myanmar. When the Rome Statute was drafted, States could never...
04.06.18 | |

06 Apr

action by the United Nations. Surely this means that ASP review would only be to implement any action by the U.N.; nothing in the Rome State implies any larger ASP role in statehood matters in any event. Importantly, any future action toward statehood could only enable Palestine to bring the Court a situation after statehood is determined, since the ICC is unable to take up matters retroactively. Thus, this is clearly the end of the line for any ICC complaints about the events raised in the PNA’s declaration of 2009....
06.04.12 | |

14 Jul

...authority over the ICC is actually quite limited. First, although the Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC, no provision in the Rome Statute allows the Council to "unrefer" the situation.  And rightfully so: if the Security Council could take a situation away from the ICC whenever it disagreed with the Prosecutor’s investigative strategy or a decision by the Pre-Trial Chamber, the Court would be little more than an arm of the UN, fatally undermining the Court’s independence. Second, although Article 16 of the Rome Statute permits...
14.07.08 | |

13 Jun

any state that routinely uses force against other states (or against non-state actors located in other states) will not opt out of aggression. Why wouldn’t they? There may be some reputation cost for a state not to be a part of the ICC, but it is difficult to believe that there will be any such cost for a state that joins the ICC but limits the Court’s jurisdiction over it to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The ICC’s jurisdiction over aggression will thus almost certainly be limited to...
13.06.10 | |

02 Feb

...choosing that it would be preferable to have no tribunal hear these claims over having the ICC hear the claims. This is unwise and it does place the concerns of the victims of violence (I would say genocide) in Darfur secondary to the Bush Administration making a point about its dislike of the ICC. An ad hoc tribunal is unlikely to do as good a job as the ICC. Not having any tribunal at all puts long-term peace in the region on shakier ground than if there was a tribunal...
02.02.05 | |

06 Nov

Richard Galber What seems to be not being discussed is if for whatever reason the ICC investigates Burundi, and Burundi totally ignores the ICC, what can and/or wll the ICC do about it It has a legal remit that is dependant on the signatories to the Rome Statute; but following ICC rulings is up to states to comply, with no available sanction other than the UNSC If the UNSC does not involve itself the rulings of the ICC are worth less than the paper they are inscribed on...
06.11.17 | |

21 Sep

non-ICC state and an ICC state. Given that nationality is one of the Court’s primary jurisdictional bases (along with territory), no “sleight of hand” would be involved in the the ICC investigating an American with Mexican citizenship. (Law aside, it’s revealing that Newsweek‘s hypothetical defendant is described as an “American with Mexican citizenship,” instead of as a “Mexican with American citizenship.” Only an American journalist could so unselfconsciously presume that American citizenship is at the core of all dual citizens’ identities.) That said, investigating Lt. Col. Benjamin would be a...
21.09.09 | |

09 Aug

...the Rome Statute (para. 4), which meant that the key issue with regard to the Declaration was whether Palestine qualified as a State (para. 5). [5] The OTP concluded that it did not have the authority to decide whether, as a matter of law, Palestine was a State; that responsibility was “for the relevant bodies at the United Nations or the Assembly of States Parties” (para. 6). [6] The OTP acknowledged that numerous states had acknowledged Palestine’s statehood and that Palestine had applied for membership as a State in the...
09.08.14 | |

11 May

...asking for the SC to exercise a legal authority to terminate the ICC proceedings, but rather to give political support to the position that the ICC should reconsider on its own accord: "Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. But the Rome Treaty removes this existing system of checks and balances, and places enormous unchecked power in the hands of the ICC prosecutor and judges. The treaty created a self-initiating prosecutor, answerable to no state or institution other than the Court...
11.05.13 | |

30 Jan

As Julian notes, earlier today the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I ordered Thomas Lubanga to stand trial on three charges relating to the FPLC’s use of child soldiers. Here is the ICC’s summary of the charges: The Chamber decided that there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is criminally responsible as co-perpetrator for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting of children under the age of fifteen years into the FPLC, the military wing of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) and using them...
30.01.07 | |

29 Jul

Like our readers, I am enjoying the terrific and sophisticated discussion on Ben Wittes’ important and highly persuasive book (My short reaction: He’s pretty much right about most things). I hate to interrupt this flow with non-Wittes stuff, but I couldn’t resist a brief note on the growing non-U.S.-related backlash against the ICC. Indeed, just as the U.S. seems to be close to electing a pro-ICC president in Senator Obama (or even in Senator McCain), it is the rest of the world that is beginning to grumble about the ICC....
29.07.08 | |

12 Nov

the manuscript. It’s a terrific discussion, and builds an impressive case that centrists across the divide could build on to support the ICC in some fashion. My own views were much closer to the views of the book until a few months ago; they have gradually shifted since then. I find myself much less favorably disposed to the US getting closer to the ICC than in 2008, at least if that means actually joining. The reasons are two: one is that the ICC prosecutor has been sufficiently erratic that I...
12.11.09 | |