International Criminal Law Flashcards
Definition ICL
Branch of public international law that deals with direct criminal responsibility of individuals
Definition of international crimes
acts which are criminalized through international law establishing individual personal crime liability
In reeality, crimes criminalized in statutes of criminal courts
Purposes of International criminal law
- truth finding
- Preventing impunity
- Discouragement
Differences with transnational CL and domestic CL
- Transnational CL -> State must make those actions crimes and can be tackled through states cooperation
- Domestic CL -> crimes within states
International crimes and jus cogens norms
That an international norm is a jus cogens norm does not mean that it is an international crime
International Crimes
- Genocide
- Crimes against humanity
- War crimes
- Aggression
Jurisdiction: types
- Legislative: Power that a state has to make the law
- Enforcement: to enforce respect of the law
- Adjucative: to pass judgments
Grounds for jurisdiction
- territorial
- subjective: crime committed into the territory
- objective: effects of the crime in the territory
- extraterritorial
- active nationality (perpetrator’s)
- passive nationality (victim’s)
- Security principle
- Special agreements
- Universal jurisdiction -> domestic courts process some crimes on universal basis
How to get jurisdiction
- Domestic law
- treaties
- Bilateral Agreements -> can be also with IGOs
- Decisions of Security Council
Why is jurisdiction problematic in international law?
jurisdiction in based on State’s sovereignty. in order for international criminal courts to work State’s sovereigny must be extended to let these systems take over
Elements of crimes
To convinct an individual, evidence is needed for every element
- Actus reus = guilty act
- Mens rea = Guilty mind (art 30 ICC), intent + knowledge
- Contextual element = victims/threshold/context…
Genocide
From art 6 ICC statute (= art II 1948 Genocide Convention) and Akayesu case
- actus reus = list of acts
- mens rea = kwoledge + intent to destroy a group as such
A: (dolus specialis, the aim of the action must be specific). The group must have positive characteristics to be a group
- - ethnical
- - racial
- - religous
- - national
- contextual element
- - victim is a group
- - pattern of similar conduct against the group (A)
Crimes against humanity
Art 7 ICC
- Actus reus = list
- Mens rea = Knowledge of systematic/widespread attack + intent
- Contextual elements = widespread (large scale) OR systematic (organized) attack against civilian population
War crimes
Art 8 ICC
- Actus reus: long list
- Mens rea: intent + knowledge there is an armed conflict
- Contextual element:
- - actus reus has a strong nexus with armed conflict, it would not have happened without armed conflict taking place
- - Armed conflict in place (Tadic definition)
Aggression
Art 8 bis ICC
- Actus reus = planning, perpetration, inviation, execution by a person in power of act of aggression with certain gravity and scale to be breach of UN Charter
- Mens rea = intent
- Contextual element = victims are state +