The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II’s authorization to resume the investigation into the Afghanistan situation comes amid a disagreement with the Office of the Prosecutor regarding the temporal scope of the investigation and the alleged incidents it covers.
The Office of the Prosecutor’s analysis of the merits of Afghanistan’s 2020 request to defer the ICC’s investigation not only underscores its own views of the law applicable to deferral requests but also sheds light on how the court views the de facto authorities as they relate to ICC proceedings.