Lenah
Follow us
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
No Result
View All Result

Will Palestine ever get justice at the ICC?

September 21, 2014
in Insights
0
0
Home Insights
FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsappEmail

Our international justice coordinator Janet Anderson explains why accountability may still take some time.

The ICC is a members only club – if you want to the court to be involved, you have to join it. Do the Palestinians really want to join? What would really happen in The Hague?

First off, a bit of history. The PA started asking to join way back in 2009, but the last prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, spent three years thinking about it. And then answered that the Palestinians needed to be a state first.  In November 2012 they became a “non-member observer state” at the UN. And since then the PA has joined lots of international treaties.

But apparently that isn’t enough. The current prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, says the Palestinians now need to apply formally to join the ICC. Only then can she look into any potential crimes.

If Palestine does join it automatically would come under the ICC’s jurisdiction. But that doesn’t mean an investigation would automatically begin. Alongside joining the court the PA should also refer a “situation” to the prosecutor – and that could be the recent war in Gaza.  In fact the prosecutor could decide to go ahead herself with an investigation without the PA’s referral, so long as she has the backing of three ICC judges, but that’s a high risk strategy as can be seen in the current problematic Kenya cases.

But next the question would be whether the Palestinians had given the ICC authority to investigate cases that occurred before it officially joined the ICC, and if so, from what date. The ICC began in only July 2002, when its rules came into force. Nothing before that date can be investigated.

And there’s also the issue of what land exactly the Palestinian state exactly consists of – how far does statehood really extend – which could be challenged if a case came to court.

After that the Office of the Prosecutor also has to decide a number of issues to see whether any case is admissible. First off, there’s “complementarity” – meaning whether the authorities on the ground have conducted their own investigations or trials or issued punishments. Then there’s gravity – the scale of the crimes, what the crimes were, how they were committed and what impact they’ve had.

On the court’s books right now there still are ten situations which the Prosecutor hasn’t yet decided whether to investigate fully or not.

In addition, the ICC could decide that not only Israeli actions on Palestinian territory, but also actions by Palestinians in another country could be examined and prosecuted. In the Darfur situation which the UNSC referred to the ICC, it’s not only members of the government who face prosecution, but also rebel leaders for their alleged involvement in a war crime.

Another thing to take into account is that the ICC has no police force. So arresting anyone relies on international cooperation. The president of Sudan Omar el Bashir hasn’t been arrested despite the genocide charges he faces at the ICC.

In short, any declaration by president Abbas will only be the start of a very drawn out process.

Tags: ICC (International Criminal Court)Israeli–Palestinian conflict
ShareTweetShareSendSend

Janet H. Anderson

Janet H. Anderson is the Project Manager at Justice Hub.

Related Posts

“The Men Who Killed Me” 2.0 project: Understanding sexual violence in conflict and empowering its survivors 
Insights

“The Men Who Killed Me” 2.0 project: Understanding sexual violence in conflict and empowering its survivors 

by Justice Hub
October 7, 2018
0
50

By Anne-Marie de Brouwer, Eefje de Volder and Milena Adamczewska Video of Conversations with survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide...

Read more
Mudukuti: Too many have lost sight of the victims behind egregious crimes

Mudukuti: Too many have lost sight of the victims behind egregious crimes

September 27, 2018
58
“The dialogue on international justice needs to become more diverse and global”

“The dialogue on international justice needs to become more diverse and global”

September 27, 2018
43
Rome Statute drafter: No one at the time thought we would have a functioning ICC in only 20 years

Rome Statute drafter: No one at the time thought we would have a functioning ICC in only 20 years

September 27, 2018
45
The Venom of War in northern Uganda

The Venom of War in northern Uganda

September 16, 2018
36

Janet H. Anderson

Janet H. Anderson is the Project Manager at Justice Hub.

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform aimed at a worldwide audience of 18-35 year olds, especially in countries where people are looking for sustainable and innovative solutions to problems of justice, peace and security. Justice can feel too abstract, too often owned by experts. We make the conversations lively and accessible.

Follow Us

Quick Links

  • Featured
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

 

  HPPJ Forum Login
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
No Result
View All Result
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us

© 2018 Justice Hub

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Login

Lost password?
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

REPUBLISHING TERMS

You may republish this article online or in print under our Creative Commons license. You may not edit or shorten the text, you must attribute the article to Aeon and you must include the author’s name in your republication.

If you have any questions, please email nsharafa@gmail.com

License

Creative Commons License AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Will Palestine ever get justice at the ICC?