Britain challenges ICC's jurisdiction over Israel, delaying arrest warrant decision

[Mosby]

The International Court of Justice has allowed the United Kingdom to file an amicus brief challenging the court’s jurisdiction over Israeli nationals in the investigation by The Hague tribunal into alleged Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court’s Pre Trial Chamber I decided on Thursday to give the UK until July 12 to submit its brief, meaning that the decision-making process on whether or not to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will be suspended until a decision can be made on the UK’s challenge.

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The UK’s argument is that the Palestinian authorities cannot have jurisdiction over Israeli nationals under the terms of the Oslo Accords, and so it cannot transfer that jurisdiction over to the ICC to prosecute Israelis.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-challenges-icc-jurisdiction-over-israel-delaying-arrest-warrant-decision/

[lapucelle]

1. From the link.

Anne Herzberg, a legal adviser to NGO Monitor, said however that the move was however significant since it would force the Pre Trial Chamber to deal with the issue [of whether Palestinian authorities claiming jurisdiction over Israeli nationals and then transferring that jurisdiction over to the ICC to prosecute Israelis is a violation of the Oslo Accords].

Herzberg said that in February 2021, the Pre Trial Chamber had allowed the Prosecutor to move forward with an investigation of Israel but that it had “ignored that the Oslo Accords fully barred the Palestinians from delegating criminal jurisdiction over Israelis to the ICC.”

Continued Herzberg “The UK filing, which the ICC tried to keep secret, forces the Pre Trial Chamber to address this issue, which if the Court actually applies the law, will require the rejection of the Prosecutor’s request for warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.”

She said she hoped that now the hearing is public, “additional countries of conscience will step in and demand the Court end the Prosecutor’s egregious jurisdictional overreach.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-challenges-icc-jurisdiction-over-israel-delaying-arrest-warrant-decision/