CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

Veronika D’Evereux CYIL 12 (2021) in relation to crimes under international law that have occurred since 2002, when the Rome Statute entered into force. A certain exception to territorial and personnel jurisdiction is the situation where the Security Council reports to the ICC on the suspicion of committing an international crime. In such a case, the Court would have jurisdiction even if the suspect were a state which is not a party to the Rome Statute. The ICC may deal with such crimes in accordance with the provisions of Article 12(2)(a) of the Rome Statute, if a party to the Rome Statute reports the commission of a crime, or if the notification was made by the Security Council or if the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation. 15 Palestine first turned to the ICC in 2009 after Operation Cast Lead (Gaza Strip in December 2008). Following the end of the violence, several NGOs and UN members called for an investigation into what were considered war crimes to be committed by both the IDF and Hamas, but primarily the investigation was meant to be focused on crimes to be committed by the IDF due to the fact of significantly higher number of Palestinian victims, as opposed to the Israeli victims. Palestine made a submission to the depositary of the ICC treaties, stating that it voluntarily accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction over international crimes committed since 1 July 2002 (the date on which the Rome Statute entered into force). Neither Palestine nor Israel were members of the ICC at that time (Israel is not yet a member). Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute allows non-member states access to ad hoc jurisdiction in relation to criminal acts committed in the territory of those states. Based on this submission, the court began examining the statehood of Palestine, as it was necessary to determine whether Palestine had a defined territory. Palestine stated in its submission to the ICC, that it did not ask the ICC to assess whether it is or is not a state from the point of view of international law, but Palestine asked the ICC to approach its submission in such a way that it met the characteristics required by Article 12(3), according to which Palestine expressed its will to be bound by international humanitarian law. Palestine appealed to the ICC that it should be considered a state in the context of the investigation of international legal crimes. In 2009, Palestine’s filing was rejected. In 2012, Palestine again approached the ICC to reconsider its submission on the grounds that it had already been recognized as a state by 130 states and many international organizations. The submission was again rejected. Only after the UN adopted General Assembly Resolution 67/19 in 2012, in which Palestine was recognized by the General Assembly as a state, but not accepted as a member of the UN, did the ICC find that Palestine had not only the right to conclude international treaties but also to accede to the Statute of the ICC. In 2015, Palestine applied for full membership in the ICC, 16 the application was granted, and Palestine’s membership entered into force on 1 April 2015. 17 In the case of Palestine’s application for membership of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, the ICC did not address the formal view of whether Palestine was indeed a state under international law. 18 15 POTOČNÝ, M., ONDŘEJ, J. pp. 485–488. 16 UNITED NATIONS, SECRETARY GENERAL. Reference: C.N.13.2015.TREATIES-XVIII.10 (Depositary Notification). State of Palestine Accession. 17 BUREŠ, P., FAIX, M., SVAČEK, O. Vznik a uznání státu. [Creation and Recognition of State] Příbram: Leges, 2013, pp. 57–60. 18 D’EVEREUX, V. K některým mezinárodně právním otázkám státnosti Palestiny, jejího členství v mezinárod- ních organizacích a přistoupení k mezinárodním smlouvám. [On Some International Legal Issues of the State- hood of Palestine, its Membership in International Organizations and Accession to International Treaties] In:

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