21 October 2024
Tackling Israel’s Interference with the International Criminal Court
On 8 October 2024, The Guardian reported that a criminal complaint had been filed in the Netherlands in connection with the shocking (yet unsurprising) revelations published by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call on 28 May concerning hostile state activities targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC). The criminal complaint is both timely and viable and should lead to the expeditious opening of an investigation by the Dutch prosecution service. The political response by the Dutch and other governments of ICC States so far is insufficient to address the problem of interference with the ICC investigation in the Situation in the State of Palestine. Continue reading >>
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08 July 2024
Why the International Criminal Court’s Jurisdiction Doctrinally Attaches to Israeli and Russian Nationals
As the storm of ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants loomed and landed on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, ardent supporters of Israel within the U.S. and U.K. governments and beyond appear to have seized upon a jurisdictional objection. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reported as saying that the “ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter.” The U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron is reported to have said the same thing. There is a basic flaw, though, in the treaty-based objection to the ICC jurisdiction as has been made. It ignores the nature of the mandate of international criminal tribunals as mechanisms for the effective preservation of the basic fabric of the international order. Continue reading >>04 July 2024
All Eyes on Sudan (too)
This article is an attempt to add layers to the discussions of ongoing mass atrocities committed in several parts of the world by discussing an under-reported situation of large scale violence unfolding in Sudan since April 2023, in the hope that the ‘international community’ can address multiple catastrophic situations with similar urgency, mobilise for justice for all peoples, end the culture of impunity, and eventually shift the discourse towards the structural causes of such large-scale violence in different parts of the world. Continue reading >>
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14 June 2024
Without Fear or Favour
Germany, like any other State Party to the Rome Statute, would be obliged under international law, and would be capable under German law, to arrest any person against whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant, be it President Putin or, in future, perhaps one of the Hamas leaders, Defence Minister Gallant or Prime Minister Netanyahu. The opposing view not only misrepresents the current state of international law, but it also contradicts the Nuremberg legacy, which must be upheld particularly by Germany. Continue reading >>
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24 February 2023
What can(’t) international criminal justice deliver for Ukraine?
One year ago, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, committing an act of aggression in violation of the UN Charter. Many more incidents of international crimes followed, adding to an already large number of unaddressed crimes going back to 2014. While investigations are underway, the failures to pursue accountability for international crimes committed by Russia in the past still need to be addressed in this context. Continue reading >>06 January 2023
A Ukraine Special Tribunal with Legitimacy Problems?
The call for a Special Tribunal for the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine ('UkrTrib') is also getting louder in the German political discourse. The proposal goes back to an initiative by the British international lawyer and writer Philippe Sands, who was quickly joined by a number of prominent politicians and international (criminal) lawyers), but this is misleading for several reasons, not least because the IMT was a consequence of the defeat of Nazi Germany and the following regime change, which in the case of Russia is unforeseeable. Continue reading >>
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01 August 2022
Fighting on the Business Front
Since 24th February 2022, international criminal justice has moved to ‘warp speed’: Russia’s flagrant aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as the ensuing (and continuing) war has spawned a plurality of transformative developments across the whole realm of international criminal law. Last week, on 26th June 2022, these developments were further amplified by a statement issued by the Ukrainian government, which called for bringing war crimes charges against leaders and chairpersons of major international banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, or HSBC. Continue reading >>
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20 April 2022
Can Putin Be Tried in Poland?
The Polish Minister of Justice decided to initiate proceedings against Russia for its military attack on Ukraine and possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. This may come as a surprise, especially after the prosecutor at the ICC has already started to act in this matter. But the initiation of proceedings in Poland is mainly symbolic and won't conflict with international investigations. An EU Member State investigating specific individuals for their involvement in a war crime would be a powerful signal. At the same time, the scale and specificity of the crimes in question go beyond the possibilities of a single country and require extensive condemnation and the participation of the international community. Continue reading >>
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25 November 2021
Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof zwischen „positiver Komplementarität“ und Politik
Vor kurzem hat der neue Chefankläger beim Internationalen Gerichtshof (IStGH) Karim A. A. Khan QC die Vorermittlungen gegen Kolumbien wegen möglicher Verbrechen in der Auseinandersetzung mit der Guerilla-Organisation Farc aus Gründen der Komplementarität eingestellt. Dieses ist nicht das erste Mal, dass die Anklagebehörde einen derartigen Weg wählt. Sie ist dabei nicht ohne Kritik geblieben - ein Anlass, diese Praxis ein wenig genauer anzuschauen. Continue reading >>
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08 October 2021
Balancing Accountability and Legitimacy
As they have installed themselves as the de facto government of Afghanistan, the Taliban could theoretically be held accountable for potential crimes via inter-state proceedings. In practice however, that would run the risk of increasing the perceived legitimacy of the Taliban as the Afghan government. The announcement of Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan of the International Criminal Court on September 27 to resume investigations in Afghanistan in the form of criminal prosecution – and thus not as inter-state litigation – therefore deserves support. Continue reading >>
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