Panel of Experts in International Law

A Panel of Experts in International Law was convened at the request of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in support of his investigation into the ‘Situation in the State of Palestine’, which covers international crimes committed either on the territory of Palestine or by a Palestinian national. The Panel’s mandate was to advise the Prosecutor on whether his applications for arrest warrants met the standard provided in Article 58 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Specifically, the Panel has been asked to provide an opinion on whether there are ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that the persons named in the warrants have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.

The Panel was comprised of the following experts:

• Lord Justice Fulford, former Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and former Judge at the International Criminal Court;

• Judge Theodor Meron CMG, Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford, Honorary Fellow, Trinity College, and former Judge and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia;

• Amal Clooney, Barrister, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School and Co-Founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice;

• Danny Friedman KC, Barrister, expert in criminal law, international law and human rights;

• Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC, Barrister, Member of the House of Lords and Director of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute; and

• Elizabeth Wilmshurst CMG KC, former Deputy Legal Adviser at the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Distinguished Fellow of International Law at Chatham House.

They were assisted by academic advisers:

• Professor Marko Milanovic, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Reading School of Law; and

• Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran, Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge.