Knowledge nugget of the day: International Criminal Court (ICC)

Key Takeaways:

1. The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, was established under a 1998 treaty called the “Rome Statute”. It “investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.”

2. Presently, 123 countries, including Britain, Japan, Afghanistan, and Germany, are parties to the Rome Statute. However, the USA has kept its distance, maintaining that the ICC should not exercise jurisdiction over citizens of countries that are not parties to it. India is not a member, nor are China and the US.

3. The ICC was established to prosecute the most heinous offences only when a country’s legal machinery was unable or unwilling to act. Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which deals with countries and inter-state disputes, the ICC prosecutes individuals.

4. Additionally, the offences should be committed either in a country that ratified the agreement or by a national of a ratifying country. The ICC can also practise its jurisdiction over cases referred by the UN Security Council to it.

What does this arrest warrant mean?

► Palestine became the 123rd member of the Rome Treaty on April 1, 2015. In February 2021, the ICC decided that it could exercise jurisdiction over Palestine, including Gaza and the West Bank.

► Israel is not a Party to the Rome Statute. However, the ICC does have jurisdiction over crimes committed by nationals of both State Parties and non-state Parties (such as Israel) on the territory of a State Party (such as Palestine).

► The ICC’s decisions are binding. However, it relies on the cooperation of States for support, particularly for making arrests and transferring the arrested individuals to the ICC detention centre, freezing assets, and enforcing sentences.

► All 124 State Parties would be under obligation to cooperate with the court and to arrest and deport these individuals to The Hague. This would make international travel difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant in the future, including visits to Israel’s allies such as Germany and the United Kingdom, which are Parties to the Rome Statute.

► This arrest warrant will serve as a moral victory for Palestine and deepen international pressure on Israel.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. It’s been more than a year in the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo)

The ICC grants jurisdiction over four main crimes

📍Genocide: This crime is characterised by a specific intention to destroy the nation, ethnic, racial, or religious group by killing its members.

📍Crime against humanity: It includes murder, extermination, torture, rape, sexual offences, persecution, and other inhumane acts intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to the body or mental or physical health when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population pursuant to or in furtherance of a state or organizational policy.

📍War Crimes: These are grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions in the context of armed conflict. It includes the use of child soldiers; the killing or torture of persons such as civilians or prisoners of war; and intentionally directing attacks against hospitals, historic monuments, or buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science, or charitable purposes.

📍Crime of aggression: It is the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, integrity, or independence of another State.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: International Court of Justice (ICJ)

1. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.

2. The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations, and which held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.

3. After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively. Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague. It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.

(Source: ICC issues arrest warrant against Israel’s Netanyahu, Gallant,  Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes on ICC seeking arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu)

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