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A critical assessment of the Government of Israel’s memorandum to the ICC – Part II

January 30, 2020

  In my previous post, I argued that contrary to the view of the GOI, a Palestinian state has existed since 1919, and a Palestinian government was established – even if momentarily – in the territories occupied by the armed forces of Egypt and Jordan during the 1948 war following the termination of the mandate. This was known as the All-Palestine Government (APG). Although Jordan was opposed to the leadership of this government, it was recognised by all the other members of the Arab League. Jordan also recognised the sovereignty of the Palestinians living in the areas under its control in 1948-1949 when it sought their consent to the merger with Transjordan. The Act of Union was adopted by a parliament comprised of twenty Jordanian representatives and twenty Palestinian representatives following an election held in both territories. The Act recognised the separate identity of Palestine and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. In addition, I explained that the UN Partition Plan provided for the establishment of an Arab state and a Jewish…

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A critical assessment of the Government of Israel’s memorandum to the ICC – Part I

January 30, 2020

  On 20 December 2019, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) published a 112-page document requesting that Pre-Trial Chamber 1 rule within 120 days on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the situation in Palestine. On the same day the request was made public, the Government of Israel (GOI) published a 34-page memorandum of the Office…

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Breaking new ground? The CERD Committee’s decision on jurisdiction in the inter-State communications procedure between Palestine and Israel

January 29, 2020

  2018 marked the year in which the CERD Committee received its first three inter-State communications under Art. 11 (1) CERD (an overview of the procedure is offered here). This was for good reason referred to as a historic development, given that this was the first time ever that such procedure has been used under…

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Playing Safe or Hide and Seek? The ICC Prosecutor’s Request for a Ruling on the Court’s Territorial Jurisdiction in Palestine

January 10, 2020

  On 20 December 2019, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC issued a Prosecution request pursuant to article 19(3) for a ruling on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in Palestine (“Prosecution request”). The request by Fatou Bensouda’s office was filed on the same day as the publication of a detailed memorandum drafted by the…

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Justifying Self-defense against Assisting States: Conceptualizing Legal Consequences of Inter-State Assistance

May 23, 2019

Cause for thought: Israel’s airstrikes directed against Iran and Syria Israel has acknowledged to have repeatedly struck Iranian military targets in Syria. While confrontations occur frequently, the incident of January 21, 2019 has received  particular attention. Israeli guided missiles, apparently fired over Lebanese territory (UN Doc. S/PV.8449, p. 31f), hit Iranian…

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