On April 25, 2014, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (the Court), Fatou Bensouda, opened a preliminary examination of the situation in Ukraine. According to the press release [3], on April 17, 2014, Ukraine lodged a declaration [4] under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute accepting the Court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on its territory from November 21, 2013, to February 22, 2014.  The Prosecutor opened the preliminary examination as a “matter of policy [5]” following receipt of Ukraine’s declaration. The Prosecutor must now consider “whether the Rome Statute criteria for opening an investigation are met,” including, under Article 53(1) of the Rome Statute, “issues of jurisdiction, admissibility and the interests of justice.”