The liability of civilians under international humanitarian law's war crimes provisions

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 344-359
Author(s):  
Roberta Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Suicide Bombers ◽  
Fourth Part

Contemporary international conflicts are witnessing an increasing involvement of civilians — such as, for example, suicide bombers — in the conduct of hostilities. Unlike regular soldiers, however, whose job it is to fight, civilians are not allowed to participate in combat and may be tried under ordinary criminal law for such activity. The question that this paper will attempt to answer is whether in the case where their engagement may lead to gross violations of humanitarian principles, they may be additionally subject to war crimes proceedings pursuant to international humanitarian law (IHL).In order to assess the applicability of the war crimes' regime to civilians, this paper will be structured as follows. Part 2 will define who is a civilian. Part 3 will examine the position of international jurisprudence and doctrine on the question whether civilians may also be liable for war crimes and under what conditions. The fourth part will draw the conclusions.

The International Criminal Court and Non-International Armed Conflicts

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Spieker
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts

Non-international armed conflicts are more numerous, more brutal and entail more blood-shed today than international ones. The Statute of the International Criminal Court explicitly upholds the traditional distinction between international and non-international conflicts, and armed conflicts will have to be characterized accordingly. But the tendency to adapt the international humanitarian law (IHL) regime for non-international conflicts to the rules for international ones emerges. Article 7 on Crimes Against Humanity and Article 8(2)(c) and (e) on War Crimes amount to real progress in this respect. Yet, the regulation on war crimes in particular does not provide for comprehensive criminal responsibility of individual perpetrators in non-international conflicts.

(Re)Considering Gender Jurisprudence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Viseur Sellers
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Panoramic View ◽  
Panoramic Views

The chapter reviews gender jurisprudence in international humanitarian law and international criminal law, and urges a reconsideration of this jurisprudence. It examines aspects of the crime of genocide to illustrate the “narrow” strand of gender jurisprudence focused on sexual violence, as well as a more “panoramic” view that has emerged in recent years. The chapter concludes by moving beyond the binary of the narrow and panoramic views of gender jurisprudence. It argues that gender jurisprudence acts as an independent measure of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Such a comprehensive reading of gender jurisprudence provides an analytical tool for practitioners to reconceptualize redress under international criminal law.

The Criminalization of War Crimes in Italy and the Shortcomings of the Domestic Legal Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-697
Author(s):  
Giulio Bartolini
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Military Operations

Abstract The Italian domestic legal framework related to war crimes is characterised by several shortcomings. It is still largely centred on the provisions present in the 1941 wartime military criminal code, which have not been subjected to substantial legal restyling, regardless of the explicit and implicit obligations of domestic criminalization inferred from treaties ratified by Italy. Only in 2001–2002, at the time of Italian military operations in Afghanistan, were certain amendments to this code introduced, in order to partly adapt its content to current rules of international humanitarian law and international criminal law. However, such solutions have not brought about effective harmonization and were drafted within an incoherent legal framework, made even more complex by subsequent reforms addressing military missions abroad, thus resulting in the current unsatisfactory scenario which would require substantive reforms.

scholarly journals La legítima defensa en Derecho Internacional Penal: análisis de sus elementos con particular referencia a los crímenes de guerra

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 230-275
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Servín Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
Third Person

The present investigation analyzes the elements of self-defense in International Criminal Law with particular reference to war crimes. In that regard, article 31.1, subsection C, of the Rome Statute is examined to demonstrate that self-defense in relation with crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression protects the person who exercise it and a third person, but in relation with war crimes, its protection also covers, without precedent, property. Nevertheless, this could be contrary to International Humanitarian Law.

15 War Crimes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cryer Robert
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Deterrent Effect ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Law Of War ◽  
Nationalist Sentiment ◽  
The Law

This chapter focuses on the law of war crimes, which is a criminalized subset of violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). The law of war crimes is a controversial one, not least as states cannot be certain that their nationals will not commit them. Young soldiers in stressful situations, and who are highly armed, may well end up violating IHL (as well as their superiors), and thus be responsible for war crimes. This is not inappropriate, but leads to worry in states about their possible liability, both political and legal. This, in addition to nationalist sentiment that often accompanies armed conflicts, often makes the circumstances surrounding prosecution difficult. Whilst the deterrent effect of prosecutions is not clear, there are important retributive reasons for prosecuting war crimes, and, in addition, criminal law is only one means of enforcing IHL.

The Liability Gap in Reference to Hate Speech and War Crimes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory S. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
History Of

If the hate speech–core crime relationship is plagued by internal incoherence with respect to incitement to genocide and instigation and institutional incompatibility as concerns persecution, the problem in reference to war crimes is quite different. In effect, as Chapter 7 demonstrates, the issue is an absence of law. Remarkably, given the inherently violent nature of the battlefield, with the exception of directly ordering grave breaches, international humanitarian law contains no hate speech provisions. The same is true of the relevant international criminal law instruments—neither the ad hoc tribunal statutes nor the Rome Statute contains hate speech provisions in reference to war crimes. Providing an overview of the modern history of hate speech on the battlefield, this chapter explores the deadly implications of this normative vortex and details the relevant legal instruments that evidence it.

INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS IN CAMBODIA AND AFGHANISTAN

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subira Onwudiwe
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Civil Conflicts ◽  
Foreign Intervention

A civil war marked by the intervention of foreign military troops is known as an internationalized non-international armed conflict.' This type of armed conflict happens often and presents a number of issues of concern to international lawyers. The scope of this article is confined to the application of international humanitarian law in such circumstances, and it does not address the validity of foreign involvement in a civil war. In civil conflicts involving foreign intervention, the sides seldom agree on the facts or their interpretation. As a result, this article is dependent on certain factual assumptions, assumptions for which evidence cannot always be provided.

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