CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) Selected Issues of the Responsibility of the State of Israel and Palestine… The author believes that the above considerations on the solution might be based on the theory of international law, however there is no indication that these theoretical conclusions could be translated into international practice, which currently lacks the willingness of stakeholders to resume negotiations, and last, but not least the latest armed conflict which started in May 2021, lasted for 11 days, this conflict left at least 255 people dead. Therefore, it can be found that in the given situation it is rather not possible to believe that the current situation can be easily resolved and turned into a situation in full compliance with international law, although it should be done, and it would be extremely desirable from the point of view of international relations and international security. 2. Individual criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of crimes in the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian action at the International Criminal Court The violation of mandatory rules of international law in the law of armed conflict gives rise not only to the international legal responsibility of the state, but also criminal responsibility of persons who are in a position to state authorities have committed such behaviour. The state may individually prosecute by exercising its jurisdiction, in particular the principle of universality, or it may be approached by states – the international community – in a coordinated manner through international criminal courts. 13 The international responsibility of states for violating mandatory norms of international humanitarian law generally arises automatically. In order to establish the responsibility of a state, its mere violation of an international obligation is sufficient; on the contrary, it is not necessary for a specific individual, the perpetrator of crimes who caused the state’s responsibility, to be convicted of such a crime by either national or international courts. At the same time, the conviction and punishment of perpetrators of war crimes do not affect the state’s responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice is competent to investigate the states responsible for the most serious forms of violations of international law of armed conflicts. In order to do so, it must be proven that the individuals acted in accordance with the instructions of this state or under its effective control. It must be proven that the effective control has been carried out by the state or that the state has given the instructions for each individual operation in which the alleged crimes have taken place. 14 In order to punish the perpetrators of crimes under international law, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established through the Rome Statute, which was created to complement the work of national courts. In other words, the ICC has a complementary jurisdiction applicable to States Parties. The investigation and prosecution of the crimes in question should be primarily pursued by the state in whose territory the crimes took place, or by the state whose nationals committed the crimes. Only if such a state, who is a party of Rome Statute, fails to do so, the ICC is competent. Moreover, the ICC is competent only 13 ČEPELKA, Č., ŠTURMA, P. ibidem pp. 777–778. 14 Case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Hercegovina v. Yugoslavia); I. C. J. Reports 2007. ŠTURMA, P. a kol. Casebook, Výběr z případů z mezinárodního práva veřejného , 3. doplněné vydání. [Casebook, A selection of cases from public international law, 3rd supplemented edition] Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Právnická fakulta, 2015, pp. 145–150.

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