Meaning of the “Interests of Justice” in ICC and the Competent Authority to Establish it in the light of Afghanistan Situation

According to  Article 53 of the ICC Statute, in addition to jurisdiction and admissibility, an investigation or prosecution should not violate the interests of justice. Any prosecution and investigation are presumed to serve the interests of justice unless taking into account the gravity of the crime and the interests of victims otherwise proved. Pre-trial Chamber II admitting the gravity of alleged crimes, admissibility and jurisdiction rejected the prosecutor’s request for authorization of an investigation in Afghanistan in April 2019 arguing that it would not serve the interests of justice redundant. The Appeal Chamber reversed the impugned decision and authorized an investigation on 5th March 2020. While based on all 5 situations so far decided and The Office of the Prosecutor Policy Paper on the Interests of Justice, the Pre-trial chamber judicial review had been recognized the Appeal Chamber held that the prosecutor might exclusively establish it. In this descriptive-analytical study, having analyzed what the meaning of interests of justice and competent body to establish it are, it is found that the pre-trial chamber had rejected the authorization request because the chamber believed that it was unlikely or even impossible that investigation would result in the statute objectives. It seems that the pre-trial chamber was influenced by some extra-judicial considerations. The appeals chamber preferred justice and equality before the court