Situation in the State of Palestine - Australia

1. On 22 January 2020, the Prosecutor filed a request pursuant to article 19(3) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (the 'ICC' or the 'Court') for 'a ruling on the Court's territorial jurisdiction in Palestine' (the 'Prosecutor's Request').

2. On 28 January 2020, Pre-Trial Chamber I (the 'PTC') of the ICC issued its Order setting the procedure and the schedule for the submission of observations (the 'Order') in relation to the Prosecutor's Request.

3. Paragraph (e) of the Order invites States, organisations and /or persons wishing to file written observations to submit applications for leave to do so by no later than 14 February 2020 in accordance with paragraphs 15 and 17 of the Order. Accordingly, Australia seeks leave to submit observations and provides the following summary of the observations that would be submitted if leave were to be granted.

II. AUSTRALIA'S INTERESTS IN THESE PROCEEDINGS

4. Australia is a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which entered into force for Australia on 1 September 2002.

III. SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS

5. Australia's observations would contain the following arguments relevant to the question of jurisdiction set forth in paragraph 220 of the Prosecutor's Request and would not address any other issues arising from the situation.
a. Australia does not recognise the 'State of Palestine' and does not have any relationship with the 'State of Palestine' under the Rome Statute. Australia would provide observations to the Court in this regard.
b. The observations would address the consequences of the purported accession to the Rome Statute by the 'State of Palestine' pursuant to article 125, and respond to arguments made in the Prosecutor's Request on the relevance of this for interpreting and applying the Rome Statute. No. ICC-01/18 3/4 ICC-01/18-30 14-02-2020 3/4 EK PT
c. Australia's observations may also address other matters relevant to the PTC's exercise of jurisdiction in this matter.

6. For these reasons, Australia respectfully requests the PTC to grant it leave to submit written observations on the matters stated above.