Substantive Law

Question 1

What are the core international crimes under international law?

Answer 1

Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity (CAH), War Crimes, and Aggression.

Question 2

What differentiates the four core international crimes?

Answer 2

Genocide: Requires specific intent to destroy a group.
CAH: Involves widespread/systematic attacks against civilians.
War Crimes: Committed during armed conflicts, violating IHL.
Aggression: A leadership crime involving the planning, preparation, or execution of acts of state-level violence.

Question 3

What are the sources of International Criminal Law (ICL)?

Answer 3

Treaty law.
Customary international law.
General principles of law.
Judicial decisions and qualified publicists’ writings.
Decisions by international organizations.

Question 4

What provision defines the sources of law for the ICC?

Answer 4

Article 21 of the Rome Statute.

Question 5

How is aggression defined in the Rome Statute?

Answer 5

Planning, preparation, or execution by leaders of state-level acts violating the UN Charter.

Question 6

What are the jurisdictional mechanisms for aggression under Articles 15bis and 15ter?

Answer 6

State referral or Prosecutor’s initiative after six months without UNSC activity (15bis).
UNSC referral (15ter).

Question 7

What contextual elements define CAH under the Rome Statute?

Answer 7

Widespread or systematic attack.
Directed against civilians.
Committed with knowledge of the attack.

Question 8

List five acts that qualify as Crimes Against Humanity.

Answer 8

Murder.
Extermination.
Enslavement.
Deportation or forcible transfer.
Torture.

Question 9

What distinguishes war crimes from other ICL violations?

Answer 9

They require a nexus to armed conflict and constitute serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

Question 10

What are the two types of armed conflict relevant to war crimes?

Answer 10

International armed conflict (IAC): Between states.
Non-international armed conflict (NIAC): Between states and organized non-state groups or within groups.

Question 11

What are the protected groups under the Genocide Convention?

Answer 11

National, ethnic, racial, and religious groups.

Question 12

What are the five acts that constitute genocide?

Answer 12

Killing members of the group.
Causing serious harm to members of the group.
Inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy the group.
Imposing measures to prevent births.
Forcibly transferring children.

Question 13

What are the main categories of modes of liability in ICL?

Answer 13

Direct perpetration: Individual commits the crime.
Co-perpetration: Jointly committed through a common plan.
Indirect perpetration: Crime committed through another person.
Aiding and abetting: Assisting or encouraging a crime.
Command responsibility: Superiors held liable for subordinates’ crimes.

Question 14

What is the significance of Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute?

Answer 14

It outlines liability for direct, co-, and indirect perpetration of crimes.

Question 15

What are the grounds for excluding criminal responsibility under Article 31 of the Rome Statute?

Answer 15

Mental disease or defect.
Intoxication (if involuntary).
Self-defense or defense of others.
Duress or necessity.

Question 16

How does the Rome Statute address superior orders as a defense?

Answer 16

Under Article 33, superior orders may exclude responsibility if the accused had no knowledge of unlawfulness and the order was not manifestly unlawful.