Search: palestine icc

the ICTY and ICTR and now their move to the MICT. In contrast, as the ICC has 124 States Parties, and is involved in ten different situations, the ‘start-up costs’ that these other Courts faced are borne by the ICC each time it begins work in a new situation, including field costs, interpretation and translation costs. Second, neither the ICTY nor the ICTR provided any opportunity for victims to present their testimony before the Tribunal outside of serving as a witness. The much broader role for victims at the ICC,...

to join the ICC in the near future (if ever). But increased US engagement with the Court can have significant benefits for both parties. That said, it is important to emphasize that the US’s new “Observer” status is not without its drawbacks. The US has not abandoned its basic objections to the ICC — the independent prosecutor, automatic jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of a State Party, no formal Security Council control over the ICC’s docket, etc. — despite the fact that they are non-starters for the Assembly...

...Palestine, around 75% of the UN General Assembly. The State of Palestine is party to a number of treaties, including the Rome Statute. Yet, the genocide and annexation are not simply ongoing, they are accelerating. Would the opposite of that then mean that if, miraculously, Israel stopped its genocide in Gaza and annexation of the West Bank, the UK would not recognize Palestine? What is peculiar about the UK’s use of state recognition as a proverbial stick (and a floppy one at that) against Israel is its sidelining of actual...

Sudan. Insights from revolutionary thinkers like Edward Said, Arundhati Roy, and Frantz Fanon highlight the necessity for transnational solidarity in anti-colonial resistance. Through an examination of these regions, this post uncovers how enduring colonial legacies and modern geopolitical manoeuvres perpetuate cycles of oppression, revealing the need for a unified, informed approach to achieving global justice. Parallels in Oppression The conflicts in Palestine, Kashmir and Sudan are shaped by the overlapping influences of historical injustices and modern geopolitical agendas, leading to prolonged struggles for justice and self-determination. In Palestine, over half...

...leaders, an Israeli lawyer, Mordechai Tzivin, was the first to strike, filing a complaint and request for an investigation. The request is unprecedented not only because it involves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is against “Palestine” as a state and its leaders such as Abbas and nine Hamas members, but also because it is filed by an individual law firm as opposed to by a state. Generally speaking, the ICC can only hear cases filed by states. However, as the Tzivin wrote in his request to Bensada, the ICC prosecutor has...

[Arne Bardelle is a senior legal advisor at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). ECCHR has supported the reform process and is among the over 80 co-signatories of the Joint Civil Society Statement calling for harmonization of the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression with that of the other three core crimes.] The commendable efforts to enable the International Criminal Court (ICC) to effectively prosecute the crime of aggression have, for now, stalled. On 9 July 2025, during a Special Session in New York, States Parties...

institutions (namely, whether created by international treaty or Security Council resolution), the role of their chief prosecutors is much more about politics than it is about law. Although Sasha is right that the ICC may involve legal actors implementing legal rules, I would add that in this process the ICC often acts as a political actor implementing policy. Furthermore, the ICC represents the zenith of liberal legalism as a response to terrible communal violence. In this regard, and to crudely paraphrase Cardozo, the ICC is a creative project, not a...

Last year, there was lots of grousing on this blog and elsewhere about U.S. objections to an ICC referral for Sudan. Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, among others, claimed that an ICC referral “would start saving lives tomorrow.” The U.S. relented and … the brutal, genocidal war continues largely unabated. Yup, those Sudanese militias are really holding back in fear of an ICC indictment. Meanwhile, the ICC (unwisely supported by the U.S. and the U.K.) appears to be a key obstacle to ending an equally brutal (but maybe not...

island)? "The ICC needs a state that projects power independently or has regional responsibilities" The EU perhaps... Most of the EU members are parties to the Rome Statute. Daniel Graeber The ICC has no authority over anything unless a soveriegn state allows it to or requests its assistance. It's a tool for the states, so I would debate whether the ICC 'needs' anything, as it would be more accurate to say that the states need the ICC. All this talk of Abe and the ICC and no talk of brothels?...

...been registered or provided with birth certificates. Lack of identifying information could hinder participation in the ICC judicial process as victims or witnesses and impede access to ICC-specific reparations. Conclusion The revised ICC Policy on Children aims to reflect childrens’ experiences in the cases before the court. To ‘prioritise crimes against and affecting children’ and ‘increase children’s access to justice’, to bring them ‘one step closer to the effective remedies, reparations, and accountability they deserve’. This shift in prosecutorial strategy should also encompass the neglected constituency, the children born of...

March 2009. Perversely or tellingly depending on one’s perspective, the visit comes just over a week after a July 12th pre-trial chamber ruling which led to a second ICC arrest warrant being issued for Bashir, this time for genocide. Dov Jacobs has an interesting discussion on whether Chad is legally obligated to arrest Bashir. Jacobs argues that, contrary to media claims that the ICC warrant in and of itself requires Chad to arrest Bashir, the ICC must request Chad’s cooperation under art. 89 of the Rome Statute and that the...

John has kindly agreed to let me post his private response to my previous post about his speech at the Fletcher School. Before I do, though, I want to reiterate how important it is to not let the US’s refusal to join the ICC blind us to the many significant contributions the US has made, and continues to make, to international criminal justice — and that includes the ICC. I’ll just mention two ICC contributions here. First, the Elements of Crimes exist only because the US insisted on them. Those...