By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court prosecutor’s office has requested arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chief, as well as three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Here’s a look at what happens next and how the ICC prosecutor’s action could impact diplomatic relations and other judicial proceedings centered on Gaza.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AT ICC?
Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request goes to a pre-trial chamber. The chamber will be made up of three magistrates: presiding judge Iulia Motoc from Romania, Mexican judge Maria del Socorro Flores Liera and judge Reine Alapini-Gansou from Benin.
There is no deadline for judges to decide whether to issue arrest warrants. In previous cases, judges took just over a month to several months.
If the judges agree that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that war crimes or crimes against humanity have been committed, they will issue an arrest warrant. The warrant must name the person, the specific crimes for which arrest is requested, and a statement of the facts alleged to constitute those crimes.
Judges can alter arrest warrant requests and grant only parts of what the prosecutor is requesting. Charges can also be changed and updated later.
Israeli and Hamas leaders rejected accusations of committing war crimes and representatives from both sides criticized Khan’s decision.
WILL NETANYAHU AND HAMAS LEADERS BE ARRESTED?
The ICC’s founding Rome Statute, combined with jurisprudence from previous cases involving arrest warrants against sitting heads of state, obliges all 124 ICC signatory states to arrest and hand over any individual subject to an ICC arrest warrant if set foot on your territory.
However, the court does not have the means to execute an arrest. The sanction for not arresting someone is a referral to the assembly of ICC member states and, ultimately, a referral to the UN Security Council.
CAN AN ICC INVESTIGATION OR SECURITY BE PAUSED?
Court rules allow the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would suspend or postpone an investigation or prosecution for a year, with the possibility of renewal indefinitely.
In previous cases where a State ignored its obligation to arrest an individual facing an ICC warrant, it received, at most, a procedural reprimand.
CAN NETANYAHU AND HAMAS HEAD YAHYA SINWAR STILL TRAVEL?
Yes, they can. Neither the request for a warrant nor the issuance of an ICC arrest warrant restrict an individual’s freedom to travel. However, once an arrest warrant is issued, they risk being detained if they travel to an ICC signatory state, which may influence their decision-making.
There are no restrictions on political leaders, legislators or diplomats meeting individuals with an ICC arrest warrant against them. Politically, however, the optics of this could be bad.
WILL THIS REQUEST FOR GUARANTEES INFLUENCE OTHER CASES?
Not directly, but perhaps indirectly.
Enforcement of the ICC is a separate issue from, for example, court cases demanding an arms embargo against Israel or South Africa’s attempts at the International Court of Justice to try to end Israel’s Rafah offensive.
If the judges rule that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, it could bolster legal challenges calling for an arms embargo elsewhere. places, as several states have provisions against selling weapons to states that they may use in ways that violate international humanitarian law.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Richard Lough and Alison Williams)
