The signing of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court confers jurisdiction on the Court to consider allegations of war crimes committed in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip by Israelis and Palestinians in appropriate cases. The types of offences that may be investigated by the Court include the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. What is not yet clear is how far back any such investigations can go given the restrictions on applying the Rome Statute retrospectively. This question will largely depend on the nature and content of the documents signed by the Palestinian Authority and any retroactivity may well be limited to 29 November 2012, when Palestine received sufficient legal recognition as a State.

 

Only time will tell, but the signing of the Rome Statute in Ramallah on Wednesday evening may herald the start of a shift away from the politically dominated peace process towards accountability in accordance with the rule of law. There are currently 122 State Parties to the Statute.