scholarly journals The Universality of IHL – Surmounting the Last Bastion of the Pacific

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Kelisiana Thynne
Keyword(s):  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Special Edition ◽  
60Th Anniversary ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Pacific

In a special edition of the VUWLR on the 60th anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, it is timely to reflect on the achievements that have come about in the Pacific region, and why this is a cause for celebration. Nonetheless, there are other major international humanitarian law (IHL) instruments developed in the last 60 years which are yet to achieve universal ratification. In the Pacific, in particular, it is often difficult to demonstrate how IHL is relevant. This article addresses the challenges that the Pacific region poses in terms of IHL ratification and discusses how IHL instruments are indeed pertinent to the Pacific context, focusing on the three Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It concludes that in the Pacific these challenges should be seen as opportunities to address historical and current problems associated with war and that, by the next major anniversary, the Pacific might be, if not leading the way, at least not lagging behind.

Implementation of War Crimes in Latin America: An Assessment of the Impact of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-473
Author(s):  
Salvador Herencia Carrasco
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Additional Protocol ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe implementation of the Rome Statute in Latin America continues to face structural gaps caused by a lack of comprehensive implementation of all the elements of the treaty. In the case of war crimes legislation, only seven countries have adopted specific regulations implementing Article 8 of the Rome Statute or grave violations of international humanitarian law. The main problem persists in the fact that there has not been a significant implementation of Additional Protocol 1 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions as a complement to Article 8 of the Rome Statute. Also, regulation has focused on persons and property, leaving the criminalization of means and methods of warfare as well as the use of certain weapons behind.

Sources of International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphaël van Steenberghe
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
The Impact

This chapter analyses the specific features which characterize the sources of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law (ICL). It first examines those which are claimed to characterize IHL and ICL sources in relation to the secondary norms regulating the classical sources of international law. The chapter then looks at the specific features of some IHL and ICL sources in relation to the others of the same field. Attention is given particularly to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the impact of its features on other ICL sources, as well as to the commitments made by armed groups, whose characteristics make them difficult to classify under any of the classical sources of international law. In general, this chapter shows how all those specific features derive from the specific fundamental principles and evolving concerns of these two fields of international law.

War Crimes in International Versus Non-International Armed Conflicts: "New Wine in Old Wineskins"?

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 319-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gauthier de Beco
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Trial Chamber ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law

AbstractThis note discusses the distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts in the prosecution of war crimes before the International Criminal Court. It analyses the international humanitarian law applicable to both kinds of conflict, and the way in which the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia succeeded in prosecuting war crimes committed in non-international armed conflicts. It also studies the two war crimes regimes provided for in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The note then examines how Pre-Trial Chamber I dealt with this issue in its Decision on the confirmation of charges against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and the problems it faced in doing so. It concludes with a plea for the abolition of the distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts with respect to war crimes in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

scholarly journals Su kariavimo priemonėmis susiję karo nusikaltimai: tarptautinės humanitarinės teisės ir tarptautinės baudžiamosios teisės santykio problemos

Teisė ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 111-125
Author(s):  
Dovydas Špokauskas
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama, ar Tarptautinio baudžiamojo teismo Romos statuto nuostatos visiškai pertei­kia kariavimo priemonių pasirinkimą reglamentuojančias tarptautinės humanitarinės teisės sutartines ir paprotines nuostatas. The analysis assesses whether the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court do not fully reflect the customary and treaty norms of international humanitarian law related to the choice of means of warfare.

scholarly journals Dolus Eventualis and the Rome Statute Without It?

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Elewa Badar
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
General Definition ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Dolus Eventualis

Article 30 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides a general definition for the mental element required to trigger the criminal responsibility of individuals for serious violations of international humanitarian law. At first sight, it appears that the explicit words of Article 30 are sufficient to put an end to a long-lasting debate regarding the mens rea enigma that has confronted the jurisprudence of the two ad hoc Tribunals for the last decade, but this is not true. Recent decisions rendered by the International Criminal Court evidence the discrepancy among the ICC Pre-Trial Chambers in interpreting the exact meaning of Article 30 of the ICC Statute. The paper challenges that dolus eventualis is one of the genuine and independent pillars of criminal responsibility that forms, on its own, the basis of intentional crimes, and suggests its inclusion in the legal standard of Article 30 of the ICC Statute.

A Commander’s Motivations and Geographical Remoteness under Command Responsibility: An Analysis of Controversial Issues of the Bemba Appeal Judgment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Matteo Colorio
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Principle Of Legality

Abstract The Bemba Appeal Judgment undermines confident prospects that the International Criminal Court could make a greater use of charges alleging command responsibility. This judgment introduces serious uncertainties in the law on command responsibility, in particular by reflecting long-lasting disputes concerning this doctrine on the ‘all necessary and reasonable measures’ element under Article 28 of the Rome Statute. The Bemba Appeal Judgment, indeed, includes a controversial evaluation of the relevance of a commander’s motivations in taking measures and of her geographical remoteness from the crime scene. This Article analyses these issues through the lenses of International Humanitarian Law and of fundamental principles of International Criminal Law, in particular the principle of legality and the principle of individual culpability.

Dealing with the Principle of Proportionality in Armed Conflict in Retrospect: The Application of the Principle in International Criminal Trials

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogier Bartels
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Principle Of Proportionality ◽  
International Criminal Trials

The principle of proportionality is one of the core principles of international humanitarian law. The principle is not easy to apply on the battlefield, but is even harder to apply retrospectively, in the courtroom. This article discusses the challenges in applying the principle during international criminal trials. It discusses the principle itself, followed by an explanation of the general challenges of dealing with violations of international humanitarian law, and more specifically the rules related to the conduct of hostilities, during war crime trials. The way in which the principle has been used before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is examined, including an in-depth discussion of the recentGotovinacase. The second part consists of an evaluation of Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and discusses the difficulties the International Criminal Court would face in cases dealing with violations of the principle of proportionality.

scholarly journals Bodies against War: Voluntary Human Shielding as a Practice of Resistance

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 299-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Banu Bargu
Keyword(s):  
Rome Statute ◽  
Hague Convention ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Asymmetric Conflict ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Hague Convention

International humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of human shields and, through a well-known genealogy of supranational efforts that passes through the Hague Convention IV (1907), the Geneva Conventions III and IV (1949), the Additional Protocol I (1977), and, more recently, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), has sought to prevent this practice. However, both states and nonstate belligerents have deployed human shields in order to gain military advantages—to ward off attacks by placing civilians close to military targets or hiding military targets within areas inhabited by civilians. This is especially the case in asymmetric conflict, where the weaker party can use human shields to protect fighters, weapons, strategic sites, and critical infrastructures, and to delay, deter, and even discourage attackers from direct engagement that might lead to a high number of civilian casualties. On the other hand, the attacking party can allege that the “other” party is using civilians as human shields. Even in the absence of actual evidence, such an allegation has come to constitute a convenient excuse for attackers to justify civilian casualties and to relegate the responsibility for their deaths to the party that endangered them in the first place. In asymmetric conflict, therefore, parties are incentivized to resort to a politics of human shielding.

scholarly journals The International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Criminal Court: Turning international humanitarian law into a two-headed snake?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Fernanda García Pinto
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Critical Approach

Abstract The International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Criminal Court are two very different entities that simultaneously apply international humanitarian law but do so after their own perspectives. This article proposes a cautious yet critical approach to some of their divergent interpretations (conflict classification, the difference between direct and active participation in hostilities, intra-party sexual and gender-based violence, and the notion of attack) and examines how the broader legal system copes with these points of divergence. The analysis considers the institutional characteristics of these two organizations and the pluralistic nature of international humanitarian law as well as its dynamic rapport with international criminal law in order to highlight the versatility needed to face the challenges posed by contemporary armed conflicts.

The new International Criminal Court: A preliminary assessment

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (325) ◽  
pp. 671-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Claude Roberge
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Major Step ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Set Up ◽  
New Institutions

After years of relentless effort and five weeks of intense and difficult negotiations, the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted and opened for signature in Rome on 17 July 1998. This historic event represents a major step forward in the battle against impunity and towards better respect for international humanitarian law. For too long it has been possible to commit atrocities with total impunity, a situation which has given perpetrators carte blanche to continue such practices. The system of repression established by international law clearly has its shortcomings, and the time has come to adopt new rules and set up new institutions to ensure the effective prosecution of international crimes. A criminal court, whether at the national or international level, does not put a stop to crime, but it may serve as a deterrent and, consequently, may help reduce the number of victims. The results achieved in Rome should thus be welcomed, in the hope that the new Court will be able to discharge its mandate to the full.

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