Assembly of States Parties – Report on the Activities of the International Criminal Court: Situation in the State of Palestine (ICC-ASP/20/9) (Excerpts)

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O. Situation in the State of Palestine

1. Judicial Developments

On 5 February 2021, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued the ‘Decision on the “Prosecution request pursuant to article 19(3) for a ruling on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in Palestine”’. The Chamber found that i) the State of Palestine is a State Party to the Statute; ii) by majority, the State of Palestine qualifies as ‘[t]he State on the territory of which the conduct in question occurred’ for the purposes of article 12(2)(a) of the Statute; and iii) by majority, the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in the State of Palestine extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

2. Investigations

On 3 March 2021, the Office announced the opening of its investigation into the situation. On 21 March 2021, the Office received a visit from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine, aimed at exploring ways to strengthen cooperation. Also, an agreement on cooperation was signed with the State of Palestine on 15 June 2021. The Office has been assessing how best to meet the unique challenges that arise in this situation taking into account the operating environment, its resource capacity and heavy workload.

3. Registry Activities

VPRS and PIOS continued to update the Pre-Trial Chamber on the Registry’s outreach activities in relation the situation.^[1] Both sections provided general information on the situation to a network of interlocutors. VPRS responded to victims’ queries and organised informative sessions upon requests.

VPRS and PIOS, in cooperation with the OTP, as appropriate, moreover continued working together to update messages for the Court’s website. PIOS conducted a mapping in relation to Palestine and Israel to determine the political context, perceptions and knowledge about the Court and potential partners among civil society, media, academia and the legal community.

PIOS publicised all major judicial developments, including the Decision on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in Palestine (“Decision”)^[2] and the statement of the Prosecutor on the opening of an investigation. It produced and distributed information materials also in Hebrew and Arabic, including a press release and a document with answers to the most commonly asked questions in relation to the Decision. In addition to targeted e-mails, the general public and diaspora were informed about the developments through posts on the Court’s website and social media channels. The ICC Spokesperson and Head of the Public Affairs Unit also gave several interviews and answered media queries coordinating closely with the OTP as needed.

PIOS also put in place a system to monitor perceptions on traditional and social media also in Arabic and has been sharing the reports with relevant Registry sections and the OTP. The media monitoring contributed to understanding the main questions and concerns in relation to the Decision and also supported the ICC Spokesperson in his engagement with the media to contribute clarifying misconceptions and managing expectations.

[1] See Public Redacted version of “Registry’s Twelfth  Report on Information and Outreach Activities Concerning Victims and Affected Communities in the Situation”, ICC-01/18-148-Red, 12 August 2021.

[2] Pre-Trial Chamber I, “Decision on the ‘Prosecution request pursuant to article 19(3) for a ruling on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in Palestine’”, 5 February 2021, ICC-01/18-143.

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