International Law

Question 1

Crimes Against the International Community

Answer 1

Universal jurisdiction where a state claims a right to persecute a person for actions committed in another state, based on the common international opinion that the alleged crime is so serious that normal laws cannot apply

Question 2

International Criminal Court (ICC)

Answer 2

Established in 2002 in Hague under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

A court of last resort intended to supplement rather than exclude existing national crime justice systems

Question 3

What does the ICC hold jurisdiction over?

Answer 3

Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes

Question 4

Genocide

Answer 4

Applies to conduct after 2002

The persecution of national, ethic, racial and religious groups

ie. holocaust, stolen generation

Question 5

Crimes Against Humanity

Answer 5

Particularly heinous offences which are an attack on human dignity or involve grave humiliation of one or more people.

Included under Rome Statute, scope is boarder than genocide

Must be widespread or systematic

ie. enslavement, torture, deportation/forced relocation

Question 6

War Crimes

Answer 6

an activity performed during a time of war that goes against the rules of war as accepted by the international community

ie. wilful killing of innocent civilians, biological experiments, extensive military destruction
eg. bombing an orphanage

Question 7

What agreements outline actions in war that constitute criminal violation?

Answer 7

The Geneva Conventions (1949)

The Rome Statute (2002)

Question 8

Transnational Crime

Answer 8

Takes place across borders, crime across multiple countries

ie. human trafficking, internet fraud

Question 9

Who often persecutes the offender in a transnational crime?

Answer 9

“the target country will often be the enforcer, through its local legislation and law enforcement”

Question 10

What laws had the commonwealth introduced to combat international crime?

Answer 10

• War Crimes Act 1945 (Cth)
• International Criminal Law Act 2002 (Cth)
• International Criminal Court (Consequential Amendments) Act 2002 (Cth)
• also introduced Cth Criminal Code: Chapter 8

Question 11

By what domestic measures does Australia deal with International Crime?

Answer 11

• Australian Federal Police
• Cth Attorney-General’s Department
• Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
• Australian Border Force
• Australian High Tech Crime Centre
• State and territory bodies