INITIATIVES
We empower survivors.
Survivors bring their voices. We bring the expertise.
Our legal action allows us to establish a judicial and indisputable truth. We work in a professional, independent, non-partisan, and non-political manner that meets the highest standards of fair trial, due process, and rule of law.
The International Criminal Court at the Hague (ICC)
We are pioneers acting directly at the ICC in the name of October 7 victims. Att. Yael Vias Gvirsman stands at the forefront and personally leads the most advanced lawsuit procedure before the ICC today. The procedure can be divided to three stages. The first stage: As early as October 15th (!), she filed her first communication to the ICC when she represented 8 families of abducted and missing victims, followed on October 31, by the first official complaint communicated to the ICC directly and in the name of Oct 7 victims. The second stage: the investigation and issuance of arrest warrants, we are taking a direct and active part in supporting the investigation against those most responsible. From November 2023 we are in direct contact with the ICC prosecution investigators bringing evidence and the voices of victims while respecting the rules of the Court relating to safety of victims in life-threatening situations, the secrecy of the investigation and in full cooperation with the ICC Office of the Prosecution. We also take into account the Prosecutor's disclosure obligations. On the first week of February 2024, Att. Vias Gvirsman headed the first delegation providing witness statemetns to the ICC prosecution investigators in The Hague and have continued to do so since. The third and final stage is the stage of direct representation in hearings after the expected arrest and transfer to the Court of the first suspects responsible for the atrocious crimes- with expected arrest warrants. Over 250 victims and counting have chosen Att. Vias Gvirsman as their legal representative at the Court for she is the solid choice offering knowledge of and presence at the field, based in Tel Aviv; and brings hands-on litigating experience at the ICC and four other international criminal tribunals; having worked directly and successfully in defense and with Victim Representatives at the ICC. Vias Gvirsman is well recognized in her field, appreciated by her peers and is the first female Israeli lawyer to have effectively litigated at The Hague
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Criminal Procedures
The criminal proceedings are divided into two and are in addition to the criminal proceedings in The Hague: Victims who have only Israeli citizenship - in addition to suing at the Criminal Court in The Hague, victims who have only Israeli citizenship can also sue in the German court on the grounds of universal jurisdiction. According to this ground, from the moment international crimes are committed - regardless of the place where the crimes were committed, the identity of the victims or the identity of the perpetrators - the German judicial system has the authority to investigate and prosecute the criminals. This, as a legacy of the Nuremberg trials and under the "never again" principle. This move is carried out by a German attorney who specializes in the topic chosen by the organization, and who works in close cooperation with our firm. Victims who have additional citizenship to the Israeli one - in addition to the lawsuit at the Criminal Court in The Hague, these victims can also sue in a court in their country of citizenship - today we represent victims in 8 different citizenship countries - Israel, Italy, Argentina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Portugal, Great Britain, the USA, the Philippines, and more. The potential is to reach over 40 citizenship countries, for thousands of citizens who were affected on the seventh of October. In these cases, an analysis will be made of the feasibility of the lawsuit in the country of citizenship based on familiarity with the relevant legal system. The organization has already located attorney offices Dean has relevant professional expertise and personal commitment to the cause in several key countries and we are going to start the joint claims activity soon.
Civil Procedures
In a civil process, one should choose one forum for each claimant for each defendant and in which the victims sue a relevant body (individuals, organizations or states) in order to receive compensation for the damages they have suffered. As part of these claims, the organization performs the following activity: 1. Working with lawyers who wish to file lawsuits in order to examine the feasibility of the action and help in formulating the legal strategy. 2. In the event that the organization estimates that this is a serious matter and that the lawsuit has a chance, it will recommend to its clients relevant to this issue to take part in the lawsuit. 3. The office will help the plaintiff's office obtain relevant evidence and testimony that will serve the claim. 4. Accompanying the claim process on behalf of the client and providing any necessary help to bring about its success. As of today, the organization cooperates in initiating and filing lawsuits on behalf of its clients in Israel and the United States. A. In Israel - a lawsuit against AP and Reuters - a boutique lawsuit against those who accompanied the terrorists in the guise of journalists and photographers and are actually identified with Hamas and even took part in the atrocities. B. In the USA - at this stage the procedures are confidential and this is in order to protect our customers and the integrity of the procedure. We will update you when we can.
Collecting & Preserving Evidence
In order to battle evidentiary loss and reliability, our activity consists in establishing partnerships with experts in the field, victims, and survivors, as well as civil society and NGOs with capacity in preserving evidence, investigations, or other. We do not receive any governments’ funds and raise funds from civil and philanthropic entities who share the universal values of the initiative for Justice without Borders for October 7 Justice. This allows us to expand and deepen the legal and evidential network. To our initiative, Mr. Ben Cohen, and his project "First Testimony", has come together- whereby Ben Cohen collects testimonies and documents evidence from the survivor (to date over 60 testimonies). We also have the intention of fully partnering with international OSINT and SGBC NGOs to enhance our action.
Gender-Based Crimes
Our firm specializes in international crimes including gender and sexual based crimes in different situations from the DRC (Congo) to Ukraine. Att. Vias Gvirsman's peer-reviewed chapter for practitioners in a NATO publication is forthcoming. We bring this expertize to the October 7 victims. Gender-Based crimes, as well as conflict related sexual violence are a recognized phenomenon and constitute crimes against humanity. Despite that, they are always being pushed to the bottom of the list and are treated with more suspicion and even hesitation. We would like to change that practice once and for all and are working with the best experts in the field worldwide. Our office, in collaboration with first-class experts, works in an analytical, controlled manner, with the care and compassion required to establish the truth and advance the search for the truth. We bring knowledge from former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Ukraine, and other places.
