THOSE QUESTIONING the worth of the newly established International Criminal Court might be surprised to know that human rights advocates do not share their pessimism. Rather than seeing the court as yet another toothless world body, experts from groups like Amnesty International believe it may be the answer to resolving conflicts like that between Israelis and the Palestinians.
Legal analysts are poring over the statute under which the court was created in search of ways to overcome the most obvious difficulty - disputes which occur in countries which have not ratified or signed the document.
Palestinians last week believed they had a strong case to approach the court after Israel bombed an apartment building in Gaza City, killing 15 people, including nine children. But the Palestinians do not have their own state so cannot file for an investigation by the court's prosecutor. Israel has not approved the statute. Cases can be taken up by the United Nations Security Council and forwarded to the court, but that needs the approval of the body's five permanent members and one, the United States - Israel's closest ally - is not shy about objecting to matters involving the Middle East.
But it is not a hopeless situation, says Christopher Keith Hall, one of Amnesty's legal experts. He says a little-noticed provision of the statute allows for cases to be brought against nationals from countries which recognise the court. In the case of the death of Palestinian civilians in Israel-ordered military strikes, many Israelis have dual citizenship.
'So if any of the Israelis involved anywhere up the chain of command from the pilot to the prime minister carry passports of states which are party to the statute, then they clearly fall within the jurisdiction of the court,' he said. 'But it also works the other way - Palestinians who commit crimes against humanity and have dual nationality of a country which has ratified the statute could also potentially face prosecution.'
He said the court was also relevant to Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, which were under Syria's control until taken by Israel during the so-called Six Day War in 1967. 'When Syria ratifies the statute, possibly later this year, it will be an interesting question about what to do with those cases,' he said.