The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issues her annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities (2018)
Today, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”), Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, published her annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities (2018). The report provides an overview of her Office’s preliminary examination activities conducted between 1 December 2017 and 30 November 2018 in relation to ten situations under consideration for possible investigation.
During the reporting period, the Office of the Prosecutor (“OTP” or “Office”) opened three new preliminary examinations relating to, respectively, the situation in the Philippines, the situation in Venezuela, and the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, a State Party to the Rome Statute. Two situations already subject to preliminary examination by the Office were referred to the Prosecutor. These are the situation in Palestine (by the State of Palestine, on 22 May 2018) and the situation in Venezuela (by a group of State Parties, on 27 September 2018).
Additionally, on 21 September 2018, following a thorough examination, the Prosecutor concluded that there was no reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into the situation in Gabon, and closed this preliminary examination. The Office further continued its preliminary examinations of the situations in Colombia, Guinea, Iraq/United Kingdom, Nigeria, Palestine, and Ukraine.
The report provides a summary of the current status of each situation under preliminary examination, including the Office’s current analyses with regard to issues of jurisdiction and admissibility, as well as the activities carried out by the OTP in 2018 in order to further this work.
The report aims to promote public awareness and transparency regarding the Office’s preliminary examination process and related activities
