Panel of Experts Publishes Report Supporting ICC Arrest Warrant Applications for Crimes in Israel and Palestine
A Panel of Experts in International Law convened by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan KC, today announced its conclusions. The Panel was established at the Prosecutor’s request in support of his investigation into the ‘Situation in the State of Palestine’, which covers international crimes committed either on the territory of Palestine or by a Palestinian national. The Panel’s mandate was to advise the Prosecutor on whether his applications for arrest warrants met the standard provided in Article 58 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Panel members unanimously endorsed the Prosecutor’s assessment that the Court had jurisdiction over the case and that there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that individuals named in the arrest warrants -- including senior leaders of Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the Court.
The Panel was comprised of the following experts: Lord Justice Fulford, former Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and former Judge at the International Criminal Court; Judge Theodor Meron CMG, Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford, Honorary Fellow, Trinity College, and former Judge and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; Amal Clooney, Barrister, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School and Co-Founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice; Danny Friedman KC, Barrister, expert in criminal law, international law and human rights; Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC, Barrister, Member of the House of Lords and Director of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute; and Elizabeth Wilmshurst CMG KC, former Deputy Legal Adviser at the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Distinguished Fellow of International Law at Chatham House. They were assisted by academic advisers Professor Marko Milanovic, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Reading School of Law and Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran, Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge.
See here for the Statement of the ICC Prosecutor.
See here for the Panel’s oped in the Financial Times.
See here for the Panel’s legal Report.
See here for Amal Clooney’s Statement.
For any further inquiries please contact OTPNewsDesk@icc-cpi.int.