Abstract:
The International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s selection of ‘situations’ to investigate
is highly controversial. Perhaps the most controversial has been the failure of successive
Prosecutors to investigate crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in the
course of Operation Cast Lead 2008-2009. Initially, this was justified on the
ground that Palestine was not a state. In the author’s view, this excuse is no longer
valid since the recognition of the statehood of Palestine by the General Assembly in
November 2012. The failure of the Prosecutor to investigate this situation, and of
the Assembly of States Parties to authorize such an investigation when it was requested
to do so in November 2012, has resulted in charges of political bias. The
author argues that this failure supports the African Union’s claim that the
Prosecutor’s Office has chosen to focus attention on Africa and refused to investigate
‘situations’ in other continents.
