International criminal law puts the spotlight on the role of specific individuals, and on the domestic legal and administrative mechanisms responsible for international crimes. But it doesn’t operate in isolation; it interacts with domestic and regional bodies of law. Thus, if the ICC is investigating state officials and entities, domestic law in other countries may impact relationships with those under investigation (in some cases even before any prosecutions). Criteria enshrined in international humanitarian and criminal law factor into domestic law-based assessments of inter-state military cooperation, arms trade, and individuals’ (or entities’) ability to travel or manage funds and assets abroad.
This means the actions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) could trigger incidental effects far beyond individual criminal prosecutions. Such effects follow from other states’ internal legal obligations to respect international law, and to maintain consistency between their public policy positions and their internal legal order.
The ICC examination of the situation in Palestine means third party states and private actors, which have already begun to awaken to the legal risks entailed by their relations with Israel, are likely to become even more acutely aware of these risks Thus, the ICC examination of the situation in Palestine means third party states and private actors, which have begun to awaken to the legal risks entailed by their relations with Israel, are likely to become even more acutely aware of these risks. This arises, in part, due to international criminal law’s “personification effect”: the fact that it pursues and names individuals and private entities involved in criminal conduct. If, for instance, the ICC or other actors raised concerns that Israeli military or political officials, or private entities such as settler land acquisition and management companies, were involved in international crimes, foreign states might find it necessary to restrict their activities, their transfers of funds, and their travel.
