Search: palestine icc
02 Oct Distant Justice Symposium: Distancing Justice from the ICC Will Actually Build It
ICC. Where cooperation is forthcoming and done in good faith, it makes the work of the ICC easier. Where cooperation is not forthcoming or used as a means to frustrate the process, it makes the work of the ICC difficult, and oftentimes untenable. In his book, Clark goes beyond lauding the ICC for merely existing and explores the structural inefficiencies of an international criminal justice system that weighs heaviest on the court that’s meant to do the least to advance it. This exposition, as I read it, is not intended...28 Apr Taking Complementarity Seriously: Why is the International Criminal Court Not Investigating Government Crimes in Congo?
ICC not investigated Kabila and his supporters? The answer lies in the OTP’s contorted reading of complementarity. The ICC and Complementarity Complementarity is the structural principle that regulates the ICC’s relationship to states like the DRC. Unlike the ad hoc tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, the ICC is not supposed to simply assert jurisdiction over high-profile suspects or cases that it considers particularly grave. The ICC’s jurisdiction is only ‘complementary’, which means it gives priority to genuine national proceedings (Article 17, Rome Statute). To invoke a metaphor frequently used by...
04 Sep Putin Travels to Mongolia: What Prevents His Arrest?
warrant against him might be having a direct detrimental effect on his ability to freely undertake international travel, at least to ICC member states. Putin’s recent visit to Mongolia however, has raised new questions regarding the effect of ICC arrest warrants and the obligations of states parties. The European Union, leading international human rights organisations and others have urged Mongolia to abide by its legal obligations as an ICC member state. The ICC is also reported to have stated in late August that member states have “an obligation” to take...03 Mar How Israel Can (Lawfully) Avoid an ICC Investigation into the West Bank Settlements
of the ICC. Accordingly, assuming that the ICC determines activities in the territory of the Palestinian Authority to be within its jurisdiction, a Palestinian request may entail an ICC investigation into Israeli settlement activities (whether or not Israel accepts the ICC’s jurisdiction). The ICC could also investigate other violations committed on Palestinian territory (by Israelis or Palestinian), such as indiscriminate attacks or unlawful arrests. But the ICC could be precluded from investigating most allegations against Israelis under the principle of complementarity, as Israel would likely investigate these allegations herself. Settlement...19 May Can the ICC Prosecute NATO for War Crimes Committed in Libya?
Earlier today, Russia called on the ICC to investigate possible war crimes committed by NATO forces during its bombing campaign in Libya: The International Criminal Court should look into all cases of NATO airstrikes in Libya that resulted in civilian deaths, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “We welcome the decision of ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to consider alleged violations of international humanitarian law,” Foreign Ministry human rights spokesman Konstantin Dolgov said in a statement posted on the ministry’s Web site. “We presume that the ICC will consider all cases of...14 May Could the ICC Investigate Israel’s Attack on the Mavi Marmara?
recalling why Palestine’s initial application was not approved — essentially, as was clear from the ICC’s response, the court’s view that it was not the role of the court, but rather the role of the UN General Assembly, to determine who was or was not a state. She then went on to say that, now that the UN General Assembly had made its determination that Palestine is a state, “the ball is now in the court of Palestine”, “Palestine has to come back” and “we are waiting for them.” Hostage...22 Sep The Worst Anti-ICC Editorial Ever
ICC gets its power to detain people from the Rome Statute, a treaty ratified by 110 states, and — in the case of referrals — from the Security Council’s authority under Chapter VII. Until the ICC grants the same rights to Charles Taylor that it does to Nazis and other Europeans, it cannot be considered a legitimate court, and should be spurned by the world. See? I told you that the author doesn’t understand that the ICC and SCSL are different! If the ICC actually resembled the Kafkaesque nightmare imagined...18 Apr Thoughts on the Ukraine Ad Hoc Self-Referral
by the ICC would challenge the legality of the self-referral in Ukraine’s domestic courts, litigation that could make it very difficult for ICC proceedings to go forward. Relatedly, I think it’s important to remind ourselves that Ukraine’s self-referral does not mean the OTP will open a formal investigation into the situation. Diane Amann writes today that the self-referral shows “Europe is on [the] ICC docket.” That’s true — but only in the formal sense. As Mark Kersten noted in February, Europe has been on the ICC docket for a long...
08 Dec Responding to the Open Letter to the ASP Regarding Palestine
[As stated on the Contributors page and in my full profile, I serve as Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on War Crimes. This post is written in my personal academic capacity.] Introduction A group of scholars and practitioners have published an open letter to the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) expressing their “grave concern over the integrity of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC)” regarding its investigation into the situation in Palestine. The letter makes a number of serious allegations against Prosecutor Khan...22 Feb Israel Does Not Have a Sovereign Claim to the West Bank: A Response to IJL’s Legal Opinion
...do something they were mostly not prepared to do (save for counted but important exceptions): accept that non-Western communities have a right to self-determination and popular sovereignty. Luckily, we in the 21st century don’t have (or should not have) such hangups. As Quigley notes, Palestine’s Class A mandate status meant that it was recognised, per Article 22 of the Covenant, as a state; just not as an independent state (p. 52). As he points out: “Palestine had to deal with the outside world. Palestine had relations with other states that...