Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'International crimal law'

Thesis (LLM)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The object of the thesis is to examine the content and status of the double criminality principle in international extradition law. The double criminality principle says a fugitive c annat be extradited unless the conduct for which his extradition is sought is criminal in both the requesting state and the requested state. This thesis is based on a study of sources of international law and domestic law and ideas presented in legal literature. The double criminality principle has developed over several centuries and it has been embraced by most states in one form or the other. The principle serves several purposes, of which the most dominant is the notion of state sovereignty. States apply the double criminality principle differently due to its multiple rationale. Legal literature has distinguished two main methods of interpretation, called interpretation in abstracto and in concreto. Whereas the in abstracto method focuses on the theoretical punishability of the conduct, the in concreto method attaches importance to all factual, personal and legal aspects. There are also ways of interpretation that are a combination of these two methods. Most states can be classified into one of the two main groups of interpretation, but in general most states have adopted a specific method of interpretation that is unique to each particular state. There is thus no uniform method of interpretation in international extradition law. This thesis attempts to determine whether the double criminality principle has become a rule of customary international law. Though most instruments on international or domestic extradition law include the double criminality principle, the strong disagreement among legal scholars as to the legal status of the principle leads to the conclusion that the double criminality principle is not a rule of international law today. This thesis contains an examination of whether the principle of double criminality can be classified as an international human rights norm. Though the principle of double criminality has striking similarities with human rights as it partly aims at protecting individuals facing extradition, there are also a number of aspects that distinguish the principle from traditional human rights. This is partly attributable to the fact that international extradition law is not the arena where general international human rights have developed. It is therefore concluded that the double criminality principle does not form part of international human rights law.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die oogmerk van hierdie tesis is om die inhoud en status van die beginsel van dubbelkriminaliteit in internasionale uitleweringsreg te ondersoek. Hierdie beginsel behels dat die handeling ten opsigte waarvan die uitlewering versoek is, misdade in beide die staat wat uitlewering versoek as die staat waarvan uitlewering versoek word, is. Die metode wat hierdie tesis onderlê is 'n literatuurstudie van bronne in die internasionale en nasionale reg. Die dubbelkriminaliteitsbeginsel het oor etlike eeue ontwikkel. Dit word gevind in die meeste regstelsels. Die beginsel dien verskeie oogmerke, waarvan staatsoewereiniteit sekerlik die belangrikste is. State pas die beginselop verskillende maniere toe weens die verskeie bestaansredes vir die beginsel. Regsliteratuur tref 'n onderskeid tussen twee belangrike metodes van interpretasie, naamlik die in abstracto en in concreto benaderings. Terwyl die in abstracto metode op die teoretiese strafbaarheid van die handeling fokus, plaas die in concreto benadering klem op die feitelike, persoonlike en konkrete regsaspekte. Daar is kombinasies van hierdie metodes. Meeste state kan geklassifiseer word volgens die twee benaderings, maar tog pas state hierdie benaderings by hul besondere behoeftes aan. Daar is dus geen uniforme metode van interpretasie in internasionale uitleweringsreg nie. Hierdie tesis poog om te bepaal of die dubbelkriminaliteitsbeginsel 'n reël van gemeenregtelike internasionale reg geword het. Alhoewel meeste wetgewing op die terrein van internasionale en nasionale uitleweringsreg die beginsel van dubbelkriminalitiet insluit, is daar sterk meningsverskilonder regsgeleerdes tov die status van die beinsel. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die beginsel nie 'n algemene reël van die internasionale reg is nie. Ten slotte word daar gekyk of die dubbelkriminaliteitsbeginsel as 'n beginsel van internasionale menseregte geklassifiseer kan word. Alhoewel die beginsel ooreemste met menseregtenorme toon - veral die beskerming van die individu in uitleweringsaangeleenthede - is daar 'n aantal aspekte wat d it van menseregte 0 nderskei. I nternasionale uitleweringsreg en internasionale menseregte deel nie dieselfde ontwikkelingsgeskiedenis nie. Die gevolgtrekking is dus dat die dubbelkriminaliteitsbeginsel nie deel vorm van internasionale menseregte nie.

Doctor Legum - LLD
This contribution looks at the relevance of conspiracy in international criminal law. It establishes that conspiracy was introduced into international criminal law for purposes of prevention and to combat the collective nature of participation in commission of international crimes. Its use as a tool of accountability has, however, been affected by conflicting conceptual perceptions of conspiracy from common law and civil law countries. This conflict is displayed in the decisions on conspiracy by the international criminal tribunals, and finally culminates into the exclusion of punishment of conspiracy in the Rome Statute. It is questionable whether this latest development on the law of conspiracy was a prudent decision. While the function of conspiracy as a mode of liability is satisfactorily covered by the modes of participation in the Rome Statute, its function as a purely inchoate crime used to punish incomplete crimes is missing. This study creates a case for inclusion in the Rome Statute, punishment of conspiracies involving international crimes that do not extend beyond the conceptual stage, to reinforce the Statute’s purpose of prevention. This conspiracy should reflect the characteristics of conspiracy acceptable under both common law and civil law systems. This means excluding the far reaching and often problematic characteristics exemplified in the common law conspiracy.

This thesis critically examines the origins and development of international criminal lave to identify the defining features of this emerging legal tradition. It critically evaluates the experimental approach taken in Article 21 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which attempts to codify an untested normative super-structure to guide this legal tradition.
International criminal law is a hybrid tradition which seeks legitimacy and answers to difficult questions by drawing on other established legal traditions. Its development at the confluence of public international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law and national criminal laws has resulted in gaps in difficult cases with no clear answers. These lacunae have been filled by recourse to judicial discretion, exercised consistent with Patrick Glenn's theory of transnational common laws, and by privileging one of the competing aims of international criminal law: enhancing humanitarian protection versus maximizing fairness to the accused.

This thesis is concerned with the analysis of the war crime of attacking peacekeeping missions under international humanitarian law and international criminal law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court criminalises “(…) intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict”. However, the exact scope of application of this war crime is unclear and controversial due to the overlap of three different fields of international law: international criminal law, international humanitarian law and United Nations law. These distinct bodies of law have their own principles, objectives and logic and might not necessarily be in perfect harmony with each other at this particular point. Major complexities linked to it include the definition of a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the status of peacekeeping personnel and objects under international humanitarian law, and the scope of peacekeepers’ right to self-defence. The central research question that this thesis addresses is about the compatibility of this war crime with the system of international law. This is answered in the affirmative. The contribution to knowledge that this thesis offers relates to critical studies on international criminal law, international humanitarian law and the United Nations system. The thesis clarifies the scope of application of the war crime of attacking personnel and objects involved in a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the United Nations Charter. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the overlap of legal regimes with respect to this war crime, which can assist courts in application of the rules relating to the protection of peacekeeping missions.

International criminal law is at a crucial juncture in its history and progression. The year 2019 marks 26 years since the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (‘ICTY’) and the commencement of the modern international criminal law project. In surveying the expanse of international criminal law at this time, it is clear that this project is at a crossroads, marked by a sense of transition and crisis. This stands in stark contrast to the jubilation and optimism that accompanied the creation of the ICTY. This thesis seeks to examine, analyse, and ultimately account for the forces that have driven international criminal law to this point. It does so using a unique methodological framework, which centres around an understanding of justice as a process. This process involves taking abstract beliefs about what is just (which we might term ‘justice beliefs’), focusing these into concrete aims for a particular international criminal tribunal (‘justice aims’), and embodying those aims in particular models and techniques to deliver justice (‘justice models’ and ‘justice techniques’), in order to deliver practical outcomes that ensure lasting legacies of justice (‘justice legacies’). Analysing the purposes and practices of the international criminal tribunals (‘ICTs’) through the lens of this ‘justice progression’, by examining the operation of the ICTs at each stage of this process, offers new insights into the operation of the ICTs, and reveals some of the hidden causes of the systemic problems they face. In particular, it reveals that at each stage of this ‘justice progression’ the ICTs fail to live up to the standards (beliefs, aims, models, techniques and legacies) that they set for themselves. This is due both to practical difficulties in implementation and, perhaps more significantly, flaws and assumptions implicit in those standards themselves, which skew the operation of the ICTs in particular, often problematic, ways.

Thesis (LLD (Public Law))—University of Stellenbosch, 2008.
Aggression is regarded as one of the core crimes under customary international law, but the definition of aggression is still contentious. At present there is no international instrument that provides for effective individual criminal liability for the crime of aggression. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) provides for the inclusion of the crime of aggression within the court’s jurisdiction, but the Statute needs to be amended to include a definition of aggression and conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC. This dissertation seeks to identify the elements of the international crime of aggression, for purposes of individual criminal liability. It is submitted that the creation of the ICC provides the international community with an historic opportunity to establish effective jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.

Magister Legum - LLM
Objective of the study – The primary goal of this research study was to investigate and document the evolution and historical development of the crime of aggression. Design / methodology / approach – The research study was primarily a desk-top based research by design and methodology. It reviews a range of published books, expert commentaries, and journal articles that provide theoretical and practical research on the evolution and development of crime of aggression through the past centuries to the present day. The discussion is majorly premised around key historical debates and events that shaped, and defined the rubric of the crime of aggression. These include: the philosophers' conceptualisation of the doctrine of "just war" or "unjust war", states' practice before and after the First World War and Second World War, the International Military Tribunals, the birth and role of the United Nations, the 1998 Rome Conference and the 2010 Kampala ICC Review Conference. Findings – This study provides information on each author's perspective on the status of the crime of aggression before and after the First ICC Review Conference. The study generally concedes that although today the crime of aggression is defined under the Rome Statute, and the jurisdiction of the ICC over it spelt out; its status under the treaty regime remains distinctly different from that under international customary law. Significance of the study – The significance of this research study lies in the fact that it is useful with regard to documenting the historical development of the crime of aggression. It also fulfils an identified need to clarify the position of the crime of aggression after the landmark First ICC Review Conference that took place in Kampala during May / June 2010. Study type – Postgraduate university Master of Laws research paper.

War crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression (hereinafter, ‘core crimes’) could not be perpetrated without those who finance them. This dissertation examines the basis for criminal liability in international criminal law (‘ICL’) for persons who finance entities that perpetrate core crimes. Despite the need for clear rules, neither international courts nor scholars agree upon (i) whether liability exist for individuals who finance entities that perpetrate core crimes; and (ii) if so, the circumstances under which such liability exists. To determine the minimum standard of liability of these individuals, this work analyses the legal rules relating to complicity in twenty selected common law and civil law jurisdictions in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania. The aim of this assessment is to determine whether general principles of law exist that are recognized by the community of nations with respect to the minimum standard of liability for aiders and abettors. Therefore, this work proposes a comparative framework for assessing legal rules relating to complicity, and it advances a normative claim as to how legal rules should be structured concerning the criminal responsibility of individuals who finance entities that commit core crimes. The comparative study concludes for aiding and abetting that, at this time, the minimum standard of knowledge is active knowledge. However, this work argues that a revision of this standard is in order to include wilful blindness. Regarding the intent requirement, the comparative analysis found that dolus eventualis is included in the definition of intent.
Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Public Law
LLD
Restricted

The Nuremberg Judgment on the leaders of Nazi Germany proclaimed ‘crimes against peace’ – the planning and waging of aggressive wars – to be ‘the supreme international crime’.  This charge was premised on two innovative ideas: that aggressive war was a crime, and that individuals could be held responsible for it. Although heralded as an historic milestone at the time, it turned out to be a transient legal anomaly.  At the Nuremberg Tribunal, the number of acquittals, coupled with the relative leniency of the sentences, indicated the judges’ unease about convicting on the basis of ‘crimes against peace’.  At the Tokyo Tribunal, some judges questioned the validity of the charge and filed dissents.  Legal observers, meanwhile, were outspoken in their criticisms, and argued that it was an ex post facto enactment, selectively applied. Aside from retroactivity and selectivity, the main difficulty arose from the internal contradictions within the charge itself, which rendered it unsustainable as a component of international law.  On jurisdiction, it enhanced the sovereignty of nations by protecting them against aggression, while simultaneously undermining sovereignty by subjecting leaders to international law.  On enforcement, while judicialising punishment after the event, it simultaneously de-legitimised both aggression and attempts to prevent it.  These weaknesses were confirmed by the failure of ‘crimes against peace’ to become part of customary international law. If the Rome Statute is amended to include ‘crime of aggression’ within the International Criminal Court’s operative remit, these latter problems are likely to occur.

The objective of this study is to offer a different way of seeing and understanding defences in international criminal law. By contrast to the standard texts on defences which identify what the law is - and in some few cases to suggest what it should be - this work seeks to understand why the law is the way it is, and in doing so, reveal the gender biases that international criminal law defences conceal. International criminal law evolved out of a need to respond to gross wrongdoings that amounted to international offences perpetrated during conflict. The paradox is that conflict is about the 'legalised' use of violence by men and it is through this process that all too often women, subsumed within the category of civilians, become the direct and indirect victims of that violence. From its inception international criminal law has primarily addressed wrongs committed in conflict - but as perceived and defined by men. Moreover, because war crimes trials have always been about selective narratives that are controlled by the most powerful, women's voices have consistently been excluded. This study questions whether, as with offences, defences have evolved in such a way as to prefer the interests of the male soldier over the civilian and thereby foster a gendered view of defences in international criminal law. This work has been guided by some of the more recent theoretical debates that have engaged the scholarly community on the domestic level that challenges the traditional explanations of defences and that exposes the law to be fundamentally incoherent and characterised by bias. It offers an alternative perspective on defences in international criminal law that seeks to understand the interests that legal defences serve to protect. This thesis concludes that defences play a vital function in regulating relations between individuals and between the state and citizens by articulating the responsibilities of the different participants in a social grouping. Defences provide a powerful means through which the law delineates a society's moral boundaries and an effective mechanism through which specific normative values of liberal states are conveyed. The overriding objective of this study is to emphasise the need to take greater account of the inherent gender bias that continues to characterise the law in the process of judging the defendant who is charged with serious violations of international law perpetrated in a conflict.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a study of a much neglected concept in international law, namely the criminal offence. The work consists of four parts which incorporate ten chapters. Part I introduces the study by examining the way in which the concept of criminal offence has developed through the various recognised sources of international law. The difficulties involved in distinguishing the criminal offence from other unlawful acts in international law, as well as the problem of defining the concept, are issues which are addressed in Part II, Part III examines seventeen classified criminal offences and practices in international law in order to determine the juridical indicia of the concept. Finally, Part IV addresses the legal consequences engendered by the concept of criminal offence, namely international criminal responsibility. Individual as well as State criminal responsibility in international law are discussed, particularly, in the light of the substantial contributions made by the International Law Commission in this field.

Magister Legum - LLM
The precise legal definition of crimes against humanity has always been elusive since their first codification in the IMT Charter in 1945. Jurisprudence applying the definition has reflected the uncertainty especially with regard to the contextual element that requires that crimes against humanity should be committed pursuant to some form of a policy of a state or organisation: The Policy Element. In the 1990s the ICTY in its early Decisions exhibited an inclination to broaden the scope of the application of crimes against humanity by downgrading the Policy Element to cover states and non-state actors in asymmetric armed conflicts. In 2002, this tendency culminated in the complete abandonment of the Policy Element requirement. Eminent international criminal law scholars are divided whether the ICTY was correct or not. At the same time, Article 7(2) (a) of ICC Statute has expressly provided for a downgraded Policy Element that somehow resonates with the ICTY as it covers states and organisations. In 2010, the Situation in the Republic of Kenya presented the ICC with a question whether the concept of organisation in Article 7(2) (a) of the Statute covers organisations generally or only state-like organisations. The Majority Decision resonated with the more recent jurisprudence of the ICTY and held that it covered all organisations. The Dissenting Opinion, however, restricted the Policy Element to only state-like organisations. This Research agrees with the recent ICTY position that has been reflected by the Majority Decision and postulates that the Policy Element should not be a requirement for crimes against humanity.

This thesis is concerned with the ways in which international law regulates state and individual complicity. Complicity is a derivative form of responsibility that links an accomplice to wrongdoing by a principal actor. Whenever complicity is prohibited, certain questions arise about the scope and structure of the complicity rule. To answer these questions, this thesis proposes an analytical framework in which complicity rules may be assessed, and defends a normative claim as to their optimal structure. This framework and normative claim anchor the thesis’ analysis of complicity in international law. The thesis shows that international criminal law regulates individual complicity in a comprehensive way, using the doctrines of instigation and aiding and abetting to inculpate complicit participants in international crimes. These doctrines are marked by the breadth of the complicit conduct prohibited, a standard of knowledge in the fault required of the accomplice, and an underused nexus requirement between the accomplice’s acts and the principal’s wrong. In contrast, international law’s regulation of state complicity was historically marked by an absence of complicity rules. In respect of state complicity in the wrongdoing of another state, international law now imposes both specific and general complicity obligations, the latter prohibiting states from aiding or assisting another state in the commission of any internationally wrongful act. In respect of the ways that states participate in harms caused by non-state actors, the traditional normative structure of international law, which imposed obligations only on states, foreclosed the possibility of regulating the state’s participation as a form of complicity. As that traditional normative structure has evolved, so the possibility of holding states responsible for complicity in the wrongdoing of non-state actors has emerged. More and more, both the wrongs that international actors commit, and the wrongs they help or encourage others to commit, matter.

Only two Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have ratified the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute, and this number is unlikely to change dramatically in the near future. This research thus considers how international criminal justice (ICrimJ) can be advanced through the regionalisation of international criminal law (ICL), whilst also serving the interests of ASEAN Member States. The theoretical appeal, practical viability, and political acceptability of regional ICrimJ mechanisms are accordingly examined. Given that the establishment of the ICC has challenged the absolute sovereignty of States over the prosecution of international crimes, regional initiatives have added political allure as they not only better reflect local legal norms and political considerations, but also place the selection of ‘regional crimes’ and enforcement measures primarily in the hands of regional countries. In recognition of the 'ASEAN way' of making decisions, regional initiatives to further ICrimJ in Southeast Asia should be implemented gradually and driven internally through consultation and consensus. Moreover, to achieve the overarching ASEAN goal of maintaining regional peace and security, the modalities and practical effects of ICrimJ may require greater emphasis on deterrence and reconciliation, instead of punishment. The prospect and efficacy of a regional ICrimJ mechanism however also depends, inter alia, on the availability of institutional infrastructure and resources, and will understandably differ between regions. Nevertheless, some general conclusions about the value and attractiveness of a regional approach to ICrimJ can be drawn. Despite variations on what may constitute justice in different geographic areas, these generalisations are useful because they reveal the incentives and favourable conditions for efforts at the regional level. The research therefore proffers a basic framework to assess the costs and benefits of regional solutions against domestic or international methods of enforcing ICL, and determine which may best serve ICrimJ in each unique situation and circumstance.

This thesis seeks to determine the most effective jurisdiction for criminal accountability for UN peacekeeping personnel who engage in sexual exploitation and abuse of women, and other conduct amounting to violence against women. As criminalisation is sought as the appropriate method of prevention and punishment of such conduct, it is first examined why criminalisation is necessary. The impact of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) on women in the territories in which peace operations are located is detailed as harms in the form of violations of the rights of these women. Alternatives to criminal sanctions are then considered, in particular the actions of the UN towards prevention and prohibition of SEA. While such regulations are necessary, they are ultimately inadequate in preventing and punishing SEA. Included is an assessment of the Draft Convention on Criminal Accountability of UN Officials and Experts on Mission, the adoption of which would support criminalisation. However, the UN itself is unable to exercise criminal jurisdiction, and thus it is essential to examine which jurisdictions would be most effective in undertaking criminal prosecution of peacekeeping personnel. The choice between national jurisdictions and international criminal justice is debated. Which jurisdiction offers a more effectual forum for ensuring accountability? What potential impediments exist and how can such hindrances can be overcome? This thesis argues that gender-based crimes by UN peacekeepers should be criminalised, and that, while the International Criminal Court should not be discounted as a potential forum for prosecuting perpetrators, domestic prosecutions are far more likely and far more effective.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
Includes bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The existential crisis of the international regime of criminal law is arguably a thing of the past. This is confirmed through a growing body of positive law and the existence of various international criminal courts, notably the permanent International Criminal Court which has been in operation since 2002. Moreover, it is significant that international criminal law (“ICL”) is developing towards increased domestic enforcement, in particular as a result of the complementarity regime envisioned by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. States have generally been receptive and cooperative towards international criminal norms as well as the structures of international criminal justice. As a result international criminal laws are increasingly being transformed into national law and enforced by states on the domestic level. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the abovementioned developments, the characteristics of ICL and certain key concepts. In lieu of the upward trajectory of ICL’s development, the thesis aims to determine whether ICL exerts an influence which holds ‘transformative value’. Chapter 3 unpacks this concept by delineating the different meanings afforded to transformation and identifying the reticent characteristics of transformative change, especially the underlying importance of values during processes of transformation. Transformative value is conceptualised broadly as the product and potential of the type of change that holds some utility for the civitas maxima (or the community of mankind). In Part II, ICL’s transformative value is investigated from a historical and global perspective with emphasis on the purposes, values and politics of international criminal justice. Chapter 4 focuses on the Nuremberg IMT and the trial of Adolf Eichmann. It is submitted that these trials produced a paradigm shift that represents the transformative foundation of modern ICL. Chapter 5 investigates the purposes and aspirations of modern ICL with reference to its underlying assumptions as well as its objectives, the latter which may be found in positive law and the jurisprudence of international criminal courts. The research suggests that ICL is disposed towards objectives which are unique in comparison to those of domestic criminal law. While it cannot be denied that punishment under ICL is predominantly a backward-looking exercise in the tradition of domestic criminal law retributivism, ICL is somewhat removed from this paradigm due to its purpose- and value-driven nature. ICL is also expressive, normative and forward-looking in various respects. Individual criminal liability is however not universally accepted as an appropriate response to collective violence. This is partly a result of ICL’s endemic political dependency. Chapter 6 addresses the impact of politics on ICL’s transformative value. ICL is closely associated with liberal-legalist ideals which essentially promote the interests of individuals. Although it constitutes an important element of ICL’s transformative value, this political influence exposes ICL to criticism and may exert a disruptive influence on its transformative mandate. In this latter respect it is noted that ICL remains somewhat controversial and subject to the general limitations of the decentralised and state-dominated international legal system. In Part III, ICL’s transformative value is investigated using South Africa as a case study, with particular reference to its transitional- and post-transitional periods. Chapter 7 provides a domestic perspective of ICL’s transformative value by investigating the interactions of ICL and the South African legal system, particularly the value of the transformation of ICL into national law. In this regard the impact of Constitutional provisions and national legislation pertaining to ICL are considered, as well as a number of cases related to matters of international criminal justice. It is argued that international criminal norms may promote human values over state authority and political interests in the domestic context. Domestic courts may serve as ‘engine rooms’ for transformative change through more effective enforcement of those international criminal norms that have been ‘transformed’ into national law through implementation legislation. The permeation of international criminal norms into the domestic sphere represents a foray of universal values into an area traditionally dominated by sovereign might and holds potential for promoting the interests of individuals as well as for the institutionalisation of human rights. Yet, as illustrated by the current rift between the ICC and the African Union, international and regional political affiliations may influence the ability of a state to meet its obligations towards international criminal justice. In Part IV (Chapter 8), it is submitted that ICL is historically and ontologically aimed at change that is both backward-looking (repressive) and forward-looking (normative) as well as beneficial in a communitarian sense. ICL’s transformative value derives from the value-and purpose-driven nature of international criminal norms, the political nature of international criminal justice and also from the interaction between international law and domestic legal systems. ICL may be viewed as an authoritative expression of the norms and values of the international community. As such, ICL and its institutions may be viewed not only as a means of punishing the perpetrators of international crime, but also as part of the spearhead towards a desired alternative to the historical and present reality characterised by injustices which have gone unabated under the system of traditional Westphalian sovereignty. As egregious forms of the aforementioned injustices, macro criminality and impunity undermine the protection of internationally recognised individual rights. ICL seeks to remedy this through impacting on those individuals that have not yet acceded to the emergent universal consciousness of the majority in the international community. It is further argued that ICL’s transformative impact is not confined to the “hard” impact of the application of substantive ICL in international and domestic courts. The international criminal justice system as a whole also produces a normative impact through a purpose-driven association with international values and certain political preferences. This thesis offers a new way of thinking about the value, potential and limitations of the ICL regime, as well as the role of politics in international criminal justice.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die eksistensiële krisis van die internasionale strafregbestel is stellig iets van die verlede. Dít word bevestig deur die toenemende hoeveelheid positieweregsmateriaal en die bestaan van verskeie internasionale strafhowe, in die besonder die permanente Internasionale Strafhof wat sedert 2002 in werking is. Daarbenewens is dit beduidend dat internasionale strafreg (hierna ‘ISR’) na binnelandse toepassing begin verskuif, bepaald as gevolg van die komplementariteitsregime wat die Rome Statuut van die Internasionale Strafhof beoog. State is oor die algemeen ontvanklik vir, en tegemoetkomend jeens, internasionale strafnorme sowel as die strukture van internasionale strafregspleging. Gevolglik word internasionale strafwette al hoe meer tot in nasionale wette getransformeer en binnelands deur state toegepas. Hoofstuk 2 bied ’n oorsig van bogenoemde ontwikkelings, die kenmerke van ISR en bepaalde kernbegrippe. In die lig van die opwaartse ontwikkelingstrajek van ISR, het dié tesis ten doel om te bepaal of die invloed wat ISR uitoefen, oor ‘transformasiewaarde’ beskik. Hoofstuk 3 ondersoek hierdie begrip deur die verskillende betekenisse van transformasie uiteen te sit en die versweë kenmerke van transformerende verandering, veral die onderliggende belang van waardes in die transformasieproses, te bepaal. Transformasiewaarde word in die breë verstaan as die produk en potensiaal van die soort verandering wat een of ander nut het vir die civitas maxima (of die gemeenskap van die mensdom). In deel II word die transformasiewaarde van ISR uit ’n historiese en internasionale hoek ondersoek, met die klem op die doel, waardes en politiek van internasionale strafregspleging. Hoofstuk 4 konsentreer op die Neurenberg- internasionale militêre tribunaal en die verhoor van Adolf Eichmann. Daar word aangevoer dat hierdie verhore ’n paradigmaverskuiwing teweeggebring het wat die transformerende grondslag van moderne ISR gelê het. Hoofstuk 5 verken die doelwitte en aspirasies van moderne ISR aan die hand van die onderliggende aannames en oogmerke daarvan. Laasgenoemde is te vinde in die positiewe reg en regsleer van internasionale strafhowe. Die navorsing doen aan die hand dat die oogmerke van ISR uniek is in vergelyking met dié van binnelandse strafreg. Hoewel straf ingevolge ISR onteenseglik ’n hoofsaaklik terugblikkende oefening in die vergeldingstradisie van nasionale strafreg is, is ISR tog ietwat verwyderd van hierdie paradigma vanweë die doel- en waardegedrewe aard daarvan. ISR is in baie opsigte ook ekspressief, normatief en toekomsgerig. Individuele strafregtelike aanspreeklikheid word egter nie allerweë as ’n toepaslike reaksie op kollektiewe geweld aanvaar nie. Dít is deels ’n gevolg van die endemiese politieke afhanklikheid van ISR. Hoofstuk 6 handel derhalwe oor die impak van politiek op die transformasiewaarde van ISR. ISR hou ten nouste verband met liberaal-legalistiese ideale wat in wese individue se belange bevorder. Hoewel dit ’n belangrike element van die ISR-transformasiewaarde uitmaak, stel hierdie politieke invloed ISR ook bloot aan kritiek, en kan dit ’n ontwrigtende uitwerking op die transformasiemandaat daarvan hê. In dié verband word daarop gelet dat ISR ietwat omstrede bly, sowel as onderworpe aan die algemene beperkinge van die gedesentraliseerde en staatsoorheerste internasionale regstelsel. In deel III word die transformasiewaarde van ISR aan die hand van Suid-Afrika as gevallestudie ondersoek, met bepaalde verwysing na die oorgangs- en na-oorgangstydperke van die land. Hoofstuk 7 bied ’n binnelandse beskouing van die transformasiewaarde van ISR deur ondersoek in te stel na die wisselwerking tussen ISR en die Suid-Afrikaanse regstelsel, veral die waarde van die transformasie van ISR tot in die nasionale reg. In hierdie verband word daar besin oor die impak van grondwetlike bepalings en nasionale wetgewing met betrekking tot ISR, sowel as ’n aantal hofsake in verband met aangeleenthede van internasionale strafregspleging. Daar word aangevoer dat internasionale strafnorme in binnelandse verband straks mensewaardes bo staatsgesag en politieke belange bevorder. Binnelandse howe dien moontlik as ‘enjinkamers’ vir transformerende verandering, deur daardie internasionale strafnorme wat deur inwerkingstellingswetgewing tot in die nasionale reg ‘getransformeer’ is, doeltreffender toe te pas. Die deurdringing van internasionale strafnorme tot in die binnelandse sfeer stel ’n verskeidenheid universele waardes bekend op ’n gebied wat tradisioneel deur soewereine mag oorheers is, en hou potensiaal in vir die bevordering van individuele belange sowel as vir die institusionalisering van menseregte. Soos die huidige skeuring tussen die Internasionale Strafhof en die Afrika-unie egter toon, kan internasionale en streek- politieke bande ’n invloed hê op ’n staat se vermoë om sy verpligtinge teenoor internasionale strafregspleging na te kom. In deel IV (hoofstuk 8) word aangevoer dat ISR histories en ontologies afgestem is op terugblikkende (onderdrukkende) én toekomsgerigte (normatiewe) verandering, sowel as verandering wat een of ander gemeenskapsvoordeel inhou. Die transformasiewaarde van ISR spruit uit die waarde- en doelgedrewe aard van internasionale strafnorme, die politieke aard van internasionale strafregspleging, sowel as die wisselwerking tussen internasionale reg en binnelandse regstelsels. ISR kan as ’n gesaghebbende openbaring van die internasionale gemeenskap se norme en waardes beskou word. As sodanig, is ISR en die instellings daarvan nie net ’n middel om die plegers van internasionale misdaad te straf nie, maar ook deel van die strewe na ’n wenslike alternatief vir die historiese én huidige realiteit, wat gekenmerk word deur onregte wat ongebreideld onder die stelsel van tradisionele Wesfaalse soewereiniteit voortduur. Makrokriminaliteit en strafloosheid, synde uiterste vorme van voormelde onregte, ondermyn die beskerming van internasionaal erkende individuele regte. ISR beoog om dít reg te stel deur ’n invloed uit te oefen op daardie individue wat nóg nie die ontluikende universele bewustheid van die meerderheid in die internasionale gemeenskap openbaar nie. Daar word voorts betoog dat die transformerende impak van ISR nie tot die ‘harde’ impak van die toepassing van substantiewe ISR in internasionale en binnelandse howe beperk is nie. Die stelsel van internasionale strafregspleging in die geheel het ook ’n normatiewe impak deur middel van ’n doelgedrewe verbondenheid aan internasionale waardes en bepaalde politieke voorkeure. Hierdie tesis bied ’n nuwe denkwyse oor die waarde, potensiaal en beperkings van die ISR-bestel, sowel as die rol van politiek in internasionale strafregspleging.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for financial support
Stellenbosch University for financial support

Apparue avec les procès de l’après-guerre, la notion d’infraction internationale par nature s’est consolidée au fil du développement du droit international pénal. Si elle est aujourd’hui pleinement acquise, cette notion n’en demeure pas moins mal circonscrite. On s’accorde généralement à reconnaître que les crimes qu’elle embrasse sont les plus graves qui soient, mais ce critère est bien trop fuyant pour fonder une définition notionnelle. Cette étude a pour objet de préciser le contenu et les contours de cette catégorie juridique particulière, par l’identification des critères stables des différents crimes relevant de cette catégorie, à savoir le crime d’agression, le crime de guerre, le crime contre l’humanité et le crime de génocide. La structure juridique de ces infractions fournit un point de départ propice à cette analyse. Toutes sont en effet articulées autour de deux éléments, l’un dit élément contextuel, l’autre dit élément individuel. La systématisation des infractions à travers ces deux composantes est concluante. Elle permet d’identifier des critères de définition permettant de couvrir l’ensemble des crimes considérés, de les réunir en une notion unitaire et ainsi de révéler toute l’originalité du comportement sanctionné par la notion d’infraction internationale par nature
The notion of international crimes by nature appeared with the post-war trials and has strengthened along with the development of international criminal law. If today the notion is fully recognized, it is still ill defined. It is generally recognized that the notion contains the most serious crimes but this criterion is much too elusive to be the basis of the notion’s definition. The purpose of the study is to clarify the contents and outlines of this particular legal category, by identifying stable criteria from the category’s crimes, that is to say crime of aggression, war crime, crime against humanity and genocide. Their legal structure provides a suitable starting point for the study. Indeed, all the crimes are organized around two elements : one contextual element and one individual element. The systematization of the crimes through these two components is conclusive. Such a systematization enables the identification of criteria to cover all the crimes considered and to gather them under a unitary notion. Therefore, the systematization reveals the originality of the conduct punished by the notion of international crimes by nature

The suppression of transnational organised crime has continued to rise on the agenda of the international community and is today an affirmed goal of most states. To increase the effectiveness of suppression, it is necessary for states to cooperate across borders in criminal investigations. The legal regime by which this is done is called mutual legal assistance, MLA, and is one of the most practically important developments in public international law over recent decades. The development however has led to several unanswered questions regarding the position of the individual in the procedure. Those are manifested in three main areas, namely; the requirements for employment of MLA; the application of exceptions and; human rights protection.   This thesis elaborates on and analyses the balance between effectiveness in formal international law enforcement and the protection of fundamental rights in such procedures in the three main ambiguous areas.   The analysis points to the importance of the principle of reciprocity for effective cooperation and argues that the conditions for MLA should not be altered. It argues that the number of exceptions shall be kept at a minimum. However, the efforts to abolish the exception for offences of a political nature should be halted or at least approached with more caution. This is true also of when concerning terrorism offences.   The analysis shows that the protection available to the person whom the MLA request concerns is inadequate. There is an urgent need to reform the system in that respect, in particular by opening channels of complaint.   The final conclusion is that, in light of the unquestionable importance of MLA in the suppression of transnational organised crime, it is possible to make limited reform in the areas of human rights and the guarantee of a right to a fair trial without jeopardising the necessary effectiveness of the system.

Magister Legum - LLM
This paper will explore the history of the outbreak of religious related violence in Nigeria and the response of Nigeria and the African Union to the acts of the Boko Haram group both legally and procedurally. The intervention of the ICC as a viable option to combat the scourge of the group will also be examined. Other options such as trial in the Court of third States under the principle of universal jurisdiction and a special court jointly facilitated by the States involved will also be assessed.

La facilité de communication et de télécommunication a pour corollaire l'accroissement de la criminalité et plus particulièrement de la criminalité internationale. On peut se poser la question de savoir si le droit camerounais répond aux exigences de la mondialisation en matière de lutte contre la criminalité internationale. Le constat peut en premier lieu se décliner en un sentiment de satisfaction en ce qui concerne les normes internes de lutte contre la criminalité, qui ont une incidence sur la sphère internationale. Ensuite, il est décevant en ce qui concerne l'intégration des normes d'incrimination des infractions internationales par nature et des modalités de collaboration avec les juridictions pénales internationales, d'où la nécessité de l'amélioration de la législation pénale camerounaise
The development of communication and telecommunication has as a corollary the increase in crimes and in particular international crimes. The question may there for be raised whether Cameroonian penal law responses to the exigencies of the world in the fight against international criminality. A close examination of the above question reveals that at first sight, it seems satisfactory as regards internal norms for fight against crime, which in certain circumstances have an incident on the international atmosphere. On the other sight, it is not satisfactory because international offences by their nature have been simply ignored in Cameroonian criminal law. The state of Cameroon is not in the mode to cooperate with this jurisdiction. There is the need for reforms to ameliorate the penal legislation of the country

International criminal courts do not operate to the exclusion of national legal orders, but co-exist with them. The present thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the above relationship. By examining the concepts of primacy and complementarity on the basis of which the ad hoc international criminal Tribunals and the permanent International Criminal Court seize jurisdiction, the foundations of the interface are explored. As effectiveness is a key concept to international criminal justice, the relationship between international criminal courts and national legal systems is tested, by examining the co-operation regimes envisaged in the Statutes of both the Tribunals and the ICC, as well as the problems that arise in practice. Moreover, the way the UN Security Council affects State interplay with international criminal justice institutions is crucial for a holistic understanding of the limitations of the interaction. The final part of the thesis focuses on national incorporation efforts and provides a detailed analysis of implementing legislation of a number of key States with a view to discerning some common approaches and highlighting problem areas. The present thesis argues that despite the different constitutional bases of the Tribunals and the ICC, similar questions of interface with national courts arise and the challenges presented could be better tackled by aiming for a "functional or workable interaction". Overall, the originality of this thesis lies in its analytical approach. By scrutinising a number of crucial aspects of the relationship between international criminal courts and national legal orders an overview of the research question posed is achieved. Moreover, the examination of the legal principles and their practical application is complemented by a comprehensive discussion of national implementing legislation which has not previously been attempted in a similar manner. [Files associated with the accompanying CD-ROM (print version) are available on request to subject librarian.]

This thesis develops a theoretical account of the basis and justification for the doctrine of Joint Criminal Enterptise in international criminal law by examining principles governing the ascription of criminal responsibility in English and German criminal law. The first part consists of a comprehensive review of the development of the JCE doctrine, including its historical antecedents, its initial formulation by the ICTY, its subsequent explication by tribunals and academics, and recent alternatives doctrines proposed by the ICC and by commentators. It identifies the main loopholes and contradictions in the construction of these theories, and presents factual scenarios for which these theories, particularly JCE, either have no answers, or problematic ones. The second part examines whether any of the variants of JCE can be justified as principal responsibility. It first identifies elements that distinguish international crimes from their domestic counterparts, and which are pertinent in developing an account of criminal responsibility for international crimes. It also examines the concept of perpetration responsibility in English and German criminal law and theory. It then combines the insights gleaned from these analyses to conclude that only JCE I can be appropriately considered as perpetrator responsibility and proposes a modified version of the doctrine of Organisationsherrschaft in German criminal law as a more accurate characterisation of the role and function of high level participants in mass atrocity. The final part focuses on the concept of accomplice responsibility in German and English criminal law and doctrine to address whether JCE II and JCE III can be justified as modes of secondary criminal responsibility. It concludes that JCE II and JCE III can be retained as distinct modes of accomplice liability using expressive and risk justifications, provided their operation is limited in ways that correspond to principles of secondary responsibility in domestic jurisdictions.

On 17 July 1998, a total of 120 States, including Malawi, voted for the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ermanent ICC became operational on 1 July 2002. The ICC has jurisdiction over the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. These crimes are the most serious crimes of international concern. The 
ICC operates under the principle of complementarity, which entails that the ICC will only assume jurisdiction over these core crimes in the event that a State Party is unwilling and unable genuinely to carry out the investigation and prosecution. States Parties have, therefore, the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute these crimes. The States 
Parties must therefore establish jurisdiction to conduct investigations and prosecution of these core crimes. It is from that background, coupled with the historical evolution and development of international criminal law, with regard to individual criminal responsibility, that this paper argues for the implementation of the Rome Statute in Malawi, through 
domestic legislation.The paper thus argues that only through domestic legislation can the purports of the Rome Statute be achieved and fulfilled by Malawi.

Gender justice is an important component of contemporary international criminal law. Feminist scholars and practitioners have been instrumental in advancing gender law reform within international criminal law and a key outcome has been the prosecution of conflict related sexual violence, in particular through the work of the Ad Hoc Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, as well as analysis of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. This thesis argues that, despite these important gains with respect to gender justice in international criminal law, there has been inadequate attention to women as potential perpetrators, defendants, and suspects of international crimes. In addressing the absence of female defendants from prosecution under international criminal law, I argue that expectations with regard to gender are reproduced in international criminal law without sufficient understanding of the diversity of gender as a power relation reproduced intersectionally with other power relations. Following Engle's work on the hypervisibility of women as victims of sexual violence, the thesis analyses female defendants in legal and cultural contexts to examine female violence in armed conflict, beyond gendered meanings. Furthermore, through drawing on feminist approaches from MacKinnon to Kapur, to examine constructions of gender, sexuality, race and class, within law, the thesis challenges narrow assumptions with respect to gender in armed conflict that collapse into stereotypes of raced victimhood and sexual vulnerability. Gender is understood, not as a form of identity, but as a power arrangement that is implicated in racial, ethnic, classist, and socio-economic understandings of conflict and of culture. Thus, enhanced understanding of the complexity of gender in armed conflict is advocated through the study of female defendants. The thesis highlights representations of women accused of international crimes in the ICTY, ICTR, and the ECCC, and identifies tensions between international and domestic dialogues as a result. The study of the ICTY demonstrates the friction between the pursuit of gender justice and the limited gendered narratives women are represented through in depictions of the conflict in the Former Yugoslavia. Similarly, in the ICTR the thesis demonstrates a racialised preoccupation with violence that further reproduces gender, minus its complex relation with race stereotypes. In the study of the ECCC the absence of female defendants is analysed via tensions between local and international perceptions of political leadership, law, and gender. This is not a study of the stories of individual female defendants; rather the research explores how understandings of gender, international law, and armed conflict shift when female defendants are positioned as the focus of analysis.

Sexual violence leaves the victims psychologically traumatised and stigmatised in the eyes of its community. Used on a large scale, sexual violence can destabilise a society as a whole and when used during armed conflicts, it serves as a powerful weapon against members of a community. During armed conflicts, sexual violence is widespread and systematically used as a tool of war and this makes sexual violence amount to crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. This research paper critically analyses and evaluates sexual violence as an international crime, as well as its prosecution under international criminal law mainly by the International Criminal Court (hereafter ICC), International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (hereafter ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (hereafter ICTR). It discusses the problem of selectivity that can be observed in prosecuting sexual violence that has in fact, left many victims of sexual violence dissatisfied. By doing so, it analyses the law as it is to determine whether the law applied during sexual violence prosecutions is sufficient. The paper also states recommendations that can contribute to the effective prosecution of sexual crimes under international criminal law.

This thesis takes its starting point from the need for a comprehensive approach towards justice following atrocities, and where not only the states in which the crimes were committed have a role to play. The thesis discusses atrocity crime (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) prosecution and reparations procedures concerning individuals as two appropriate courses of action, through which non-territorial states may contribute to atrocity prevention and justice for the victims of atrocities. The analysis addresses whether, under international law, non-territorial states are allowed to, required to, or prohibited from facilitating prosecution and reparations procedures and includes an assessment of the extent to which international law relating to reparations fails to correspond to that applicable to prosecution. The implications of the lack of correspondence are analysed in light of the historical connection and separation of the two courses of action, the procedural and substantive legal overlaps between prosecution and reparations, and the underlying aims and functions of prosecution and reparations. The study covers a wide spectrum of international legal sources, most of them to be found in human rights law, humanitarian law and international criminal law. The study shows that while non-territorial states are included in both conventional and customary law as regards prosecution of atrocity crimes, the same cannot be said in relation to reparations procedures. This serious deficit and inconsistency in international law, is explained by the framing of reparations, but not prosecution, as a matter concerning victims and human rights, thereby leaving the enforcement of the rules to the discretion of each state. Reparation is also considered a private matter and as such falls outside the scope of the far-reaching obligations regarding prosecution. The study suggests taking further the responsibilities of non-territorial states in relation to atrocity crimes. Most urgently, measures should be considered that bring the legal space for reparations procedures into line with that for prosecution in, for instance, future discussions by human rights treaty-monitoring bodies and in the drafting of new international victims' rights, atrocity crimes or civil procedure instruments.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003.
Thesis advisor(s): Daniel Moran, James Armstead. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-62). Also available online.

A theoretical foundation is laid, noting that treaties require legislative transformation before they take effect in municipal law (other than as interpretative tools in limited circumstances). Criminal courts have, however, not always applied that theory rigorously. Nor have they handled treaty interpretation well. Anglocentricity pervades UK extradition law and, notwithstanding the reform of the law in 1988 and 1989, both municipal law and the UK's international arrangements remain in some respects a poor fit with Scots law. Issues arising from that are explored. It is noted that further development is likely to occur in the context of the Third Pillar of the EU. More generally, it is demonstrated that the Extradition Act 1989 entrenches the dominance of municipal law. Furthermore, courts tend to apply concepts drawn from more general municipal law to the determination of extradition law questions. These (and other) factors justify the view that municipal law has priority in the UK's approach to extradition; though obligations under ECHR may in some circumstances take precedence. Indeed, those obligations sometimes conflict with obligations under extradition treaties. Mutual legal assistance has a much smaller literature than extradition and is therefore analysed more comprehensively in the thesis. The pattern of municipal law priority is repeated; but it becomes clear that policy makers have not always demonstrated a firm grasp of the principles of municipal law to which they have sought to give such priority. The writer has previously published a detailed analysis of proceeds of crime law and comprehensive analysis is not, therefore, required in the thesis. The development of the law is described and it is shown that municipal law and international law have developed in parallel. The influence which international law has exerted on municipal law has been limited. Ultimately, 2 conclusions are drawn. The first is that the relationship between international law and Scots law is not merely unexplored. It is also underdeveloped. The second is that the relationship depends substantially upon the varying policy priorities of UK governments.

Diplomatic immunity is one of the oldest elements of foreign relations, dating back as far as Ancient Greece and Rome. Today, it is a principle that has been codified into the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations regulating past customs and practices. Consuls and international organizations, although their privileges and immunities are similar to diplomatic personnel, do differ and are regulated by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the United Nations International Immunities respectively. These Conventions have been influenced by past practices and by three theories during different era’s namely exterritoriality, personal representation and functional necessity. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations further provides certain immunities and privileges to different levels of diplomatic officials, their staff and families. Privileges and immunities will be considered under various main categories, namely the diplomatic mission, the diplomatic official, diplomatic staff, and families. Each category receives privileges and immunities, for example immunities enjoyed by the diplomatic mission include mission correspondence and bags. Diplomatic officials enjoy personal inviolability, immunity from jurisdiction and inviolability of diplomats’ residences and property. The staff and families of diplomatic officials too enjoy privileges and immunities. The problem of so many people receiving privileges and immunities is that there is a high likelihood of abuse. Abuses that arise are various crimes committed by diplomats, their staff and families. They are immune from local punishment and appear to be above the local law. Although the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides remedies against diplomats, staff and families who abuse their position, it gives the impression that it is not enough. Various Acts in the United Kingdom, United States and the Republic of South Africa will be analysed in order to ascertain what governments have done to try and curb diplomatic abuses. Each will be considered and found that although they have restricted immunity from previous practices it still places the diplomats’ needs above its own citizens. Thus several suggestions have been put forward and argued whether they are successful in restricting immunity comprehensively. Such suggestions are amending the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations; using the functional necessity theory to further limit immunity; forming bilateral treaties between States as a possible means to restrict or limit; and lastly establishing a Permanent International Diplomatic Criminal Court. The key question to be answered is whether diplomatic immunity is needed for the efficient functioning of foreign relations between States.

The codifying of international humanitarian law (IHL) that began in the mid-nineteenth century has not diminished the importance of customary international humanitarian law (CIHL), at least, in filling the gaps between the needs of the victims of armed conflicts and the inadequacies of conventional law. This is fully reflected in the case-law of international criminal tribunals (ICTs) where customary law has been extensively applied in areas that are not sufficiently regulated by treaty provisions or where the parties to armed conflicts were not parties to similar treaties. This study mainly focuses on the contributions of the judicial decisions of the ICTs to the current state of CIHL. It examines how the decisions have reaffirmed certain rules of CIHL or, when applicable, how they have influenced the subsequent development of CIHL. It also seeks to analytically study the rules of IHL identified as customary in the decisions of ICTs. In the course of research, the customary definition of non-international armed conflicts (NIACs), tests for determining internationalized armed conflicts, customary content of war crimes, and their application to NIACs are discussed in greater details. It is argued that the ICTs contribute to customary rules by way of reaffirmation and development. They develop CIHL through judicial interpretation or practical application of existing laws to new cases. CIHL has the advantages of flexibility in formation and universality in application. The case-law of ICTs, however, clearly reveals that the prime advantage of CIHL is its constituent elements and the prerogative that the ICTs can exercise in identifying customary rules. The ICTs deliberately choose combinations of the elements of opinio juris and State practice to draw the rules that they consider to be suitable for protecting the victims of armed conflicts. The methodology has been occasionally criticized to be ultra vires law-making. This research shows that the methodology is still definable in the positivist views to international law-making, though they have managed to develop CIHL beyond its traditional boundaries to cover areas of IHL, such as NIACs where States have been traditionally reluctant to develop.

À ce moment charnière où les T.P.I. accomplissent leurs Stratégies d’achèvement et où la C.P.I. va rendre son premier jugement, il est essentiel de faire un point sur le droit international pénal et particulièrement sur les statuts de victime selon ce droit. En effet, ceux-ci symbolisent les tenants et aboutissants de l’ensemble du droit international pénal. Tantôt oubliée, tantôt sacralisée, la victime ne laisse pas indifférent, et encore moins lorsqu’elle a subi un crime international. Sa reconnaissance a d’ailleurs bouleversé l’économie générale du droit international pénal qui lui accorde une place de plus en plus grande. Une étude approfondie des droits des différentes juridictions permet de constater qu’il n’y a pas un mais plusieurs statuts de victime. La pluralité de ces statuts réside dans l’existence de plusieurs qualités juridiques de victime et de plusieurs régimes juridiques applicables à celle-ci. L’analyse des différents facteurs de cette pluralité donne lieu de voir qu’elle est une force et non une faiblesse du droit international pénal. Elle est la voie médiane entre le rejet de la considération des victimes comme une masse informe et leur impossible prise en compte individuelle. Mais, comme pour le statut du particulier en droit international public général, l’équilibre est parfois difficile à trouver et les statuts sont perfectibles. C’est pourquoi, des propositions d’enrichissements des statuts de victime sont faites et, pour chacune d’entre elles, il est observé si elle est réalisable et souhaitable. Un système de justice pénale internationale serait en construction. La victime pourrait finir par trouver une place en son sein qui satisferait l’ensemble des protagonistes de la répression des crimes internationaux, y compris et surtout, les États
While the ICT carry out their Completion Strategies, the ICC will soon pronounce its first decision. At this point, itis important to assess international criminal law and especially victim’s status according to this law. Actually, theysymbolise the ins and outs of international criminal law. Once forgotten, once sacralised, the victim never leavesus indifferent, above all a victim of international crimes. His or her recognition has deeply altered internationalcriminal law, which now gives him or her an increasing place. Studying the laws of the international criminal courtsshows that there is not one status but several status of victim. This plurality comes from the fact that there areseveral legal characterisations of victim and several legal conditions. The analysis of the different factors leadingto this multiplicity of legal status enables us to envision this legal diversity as a power of international criminal law,rather than one of its weaknesses. It is the middle way between considering victims as a shapeless, undefinedand undifferentiated crowd and considering each victim individually. But, as with the status of private persons ininternational public law, reaching and keeping a well-balanced status is difficult ; and these are perfectible andcan be improved. This is the reason why some suggestions for the enrichment of the different status are madeand, for each of them, there is a thorough questioning and analysis of whether it is feasible and desirable. As aninternational criminal justice system is under construction, the victim could find a place in it which would satisfy allthe protagonists of the legal proceedings against international crimes, including and particularly States

To prosecute perpetrators of war crimes the International Criminal Court (ICC) must connect the physical actions of the offence and ‘most responsible’ offenders charged with planning, instigating and intent on carrying out crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. To date there has been no empirical study of the types of physical actions that make up this offence. There is no baseline knowledge to contextualize the offence and enable the ICC to make links between the actions on the ground and a perpetrator’s culpability. The purpose of this study was to produce the first multivariate model of war crime ground action using cases of war crime offences in Cambodia and Rwanda. The aim was to first identify a representative range offence behaviours, and secondly determine if ground actions could be differentiated into distinct forms of offending that indicate culpability, that is, knowledge and intent in carrying out the crime. Lastly, offence behaviours assessed to determine if external factors could account for variances in offender behaviour, and help the ICC account for variances in behaviour when making inferences from the models. This was achieved through content analysis, cluster analysis, smallest space analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. It was found that as many as 44 different killing and disposal methods are used over the course of war crimes in Cambodia and Rwanda and that these offence actions can be classified into four distinct themes of behaviour. The indentified conservative, expressive, integrative and adaptive theme demonstrates that offenders were committing war crime offences in different ways. Using the underlying theories attached to each mode the ICC can infer the culpability of an offender based on which theme their actions fall into. In this case offenders subscribing to the conservative theme are likely to reflect the planning and instigation components of a war crime and offenders whose actions fall within the expressive theme are likely to be using war crimes as a cover for personal gratification and gain. Finally it was found that variances of behaviour can be attributed to the geographical location and timing of the event, and helps the ICC target their investigations to locations and periods linked to conservative behaviour, the offender who performs it and thus their culpability. This study shows that multivariate analysis can contextualize ground actions in manner that allows the ICC to make informed decisions of perpetrator culpability during war crimes.

Du fait des particularismes inhérents à l’ordre juridique international, les contours et le contenu de la justice internationale diffèrent de ceux de la justice interne. Ils répondent à des forces directrices variables qui déterminent la conception même des juridictions internationales et de la justice qu’elles sont mandatées de rendre. Ces forces sont en constante évolution, de concert avec la transformation permanente de l’ordre juridique international. Le phénomène juridictionnel international est ainsi parcouru par plusieurs dynamiques. Au travers de l’étude du cas de la Cour pénale internationale, institution internationale clivante, l’ambition essentielle de cette étude est double. D’une part, il s’agit de démontrer la grande diversité de fonctions judiciaires pénales internationales, dont l’existence même nourrit de sérieux désaccords, tant au sein de la doctrine qu’auprès du personnel de la Cour et des conseillers juridiques des États. Il est donc nécessaire de partir à la recherche et d’examiner les éléments par lesquels la Cour exerce ses fonctions judiciaires afin de répondre au besoin de déterminer, de critiquer et d’ordonner les fonctions judiciaires pénales internationales. La thèse prend position sur chacune d’entre elles. D’autre part, l’analyse vise à exposer l’existence d’une métamorphose de la justice pénale internationale. Il faut pour cela mettre en lumière les dynamiques d’extension et de développement des fonctions judiciaires pénales internationales et, ainsi, lever le voile sur une dynamique plus générale d’enrichissement de la justice internationale
The progressive legalization of the international society has generated a similar fundamental issue: the implementation of the international law by international courts and tribunals. A slow and relentless judicialisation of international relations has been observed, to the point that there are different providers of the same international judicial function, competent on a large majority of areas of international law.Because of peculiarities inherent to the international legal order, the outlines and content of international justice are different from those of the internal justice. They respond to varying driving forces which determine the conception of international courts and the notion of justice that they are mandated to render. These forces are constantly changing, along with the ongoing transformation of the international legal order. Indeed, the international judicial phenomenon is subject to several dynamics. Through the case study of the International Criminal Court, the essential aim of this study is twofold. First, it is to demonstrate the great diversification of international criminal judicial functions. Some of them crystallize serious disagreements, within the doctrine as to the staff of the Court and Legal Advisors to States. It is therefore necessary to research and examine the elements by which the Court exercises its various judicial functions. The thesis takes a position on each of them. On the other hand, the analysis aims to expose the existence of a metamorphosis of international criminal justice. This requires highlighting two dynamics: the expansion and the development of the international criminal judicial function, and thus unveiling a general dynamic of enrichment of international justice

In the past thirty years, International Criminal Law (ICL) has established itself as an influential framework through which claims for justice in relation to the past can be mediated. This thesis offers a critique of the particular way in which ICL links history, law and justice. To this end, it contrasts a transitional justice perspective on trials in response to state crime, with one that looks at such trials as sites of competing politics of time. While the former focuses on the stabilisation of political authority, the later privileges its destabilisation. This perspective is then brought to bear on two sets of trials. These are, on the one hand, the trials of German industrialists conducted by the Allies in the wake of World War II (1939-1945) and, on the other hand,the ongoing trials in Argentina which seek to address the economic dimensions of the last Argentinian dictatorship (1976-1983). Through the reading of these trials, ICL is shown to be a liberal concept of historical justice, not (merely) because it focuses on individual responsibility or because it seeks to foster the liberal rule of law, but, more importantly, because it understands the economic dimensions of state crime according to the ontological separation of the state and the economic which is inherited from political liberalism. As a consequence, ICL tends to authorise a liberal democratic order, while sidelining other political imaginaries and related claims to justice, especially those that would involve a reshaping of the political economy on which liberalism rests. This argument is developed in two parts. The first part, consisting of three chapters, contrasts what has become the predominant perspective from which to study trials in response to state crime, namely transitional justice, with a theoretical framework inspired by the work of Walter Benjamin – in particular, his philosophy of history and his critique of violence. The central difference between these approaches, this thesis will argue, lies with the way in which each conceives of the promise of justice that comes with the memory of past violence. Transitional justice literature links the duty to remember past violence to the promise of fostering a particular juridico-political order, namely the liberal rule of law. Walter Benjamin, by contrast, is interested in the past’s ability to expose the foundational violence of the present juridico-political order. Against this backdrop, the promise of trials in response to state crime can be located only at the place, where they unearth ‘rags of history’ that, if read, expose not only the the violence of the past, but also that of the present, thereby opening it anew for contestation. Chapters Four, Five and Six put this theoretical framework to work in close readings of several criminal trials which deal with the economic dimensions of state crime conducted in post-World War II Germany and contemporary Argentina. These readings bring into relief the way in which the ontological underpinnings of political liberalism – such as the separation of the economic from the political, and the categorisation of violence according to sanctioned and non-sanctioned manifestations – structures the way that ICL makes sense of the economic dimensions of state crime.

The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur (Commission) began its work in October 2004 and provided its final report only three months later on 25 January 2005.2 There, it concluded, inter alia, &ldquo
that the Government of Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide&rdquo
and that at least the central Government authorities did not act with genocidal intent.3 However, these findings would not exclude the possibility that the atrocities committed by individuals against victims were carried out with the specific intent to destroy and therefore could possibly fulfil all necessary requirements of the crime of genocide.

This thesis is concerned with ‘international criminal law’. It examines the historical development of this body of law. This thesis also examines the record of enforcement of international criminal law. Historically the enforcement of international criminal law has primarily been a matter for states. States possess the capacity and lawful means of coercion necessary to enforce the criminal law. On occasions states have acted in concert with other states to enforce international criminal law by means of international criminal tribunals.

Doctor Legum - LLD
Children have been committing crimes during times of war and other armed conflicts since time immemorial. Yet, it is only over the last few decades that cognisance is being taken of child soldiers as a type of juvenile. The unfortunate sight of a child holding a gun has become a familiar picture throughout armed conflicts, especially in Africa. Both boys and girls are used as child soldiers and they can be as young as 5 years old. They are mainly regarded as victims of crimes under international law and are therefore usually rehabilitated once they have been disarmed and demobilised. Notwithstanding their need for rehabilitation, it is a fact that child soldiers commit some of the most egregious crimes under international law. They receive military-style training and are presumably not afraid of killing and carrying out orders. Yet it is recognised that generally they do not have the same level of maturity as adults. The reality of child soldiers who join armed forces therefore presents complex legal questions in the face of contemporary international criminal law principles which, on the one hand, afford protection to all children, and on the other, unequivocally call for the prosecution and punishment of those who are individually responsible for committing crimes under international law. Consequently, various safeguards need to be upheld to ensure that the best interests of the child are maintained once a child soldier is held criminally responsible. This thesis analyses the extent to which child soldiers can be prosecuted under domestic and international law, as well as the implementation of alternative measures to prosecution. The thesis proposes that a case-by-case approach should be considered when child soldiers are prosecuted for crimes under international law, thereby investigating and analysing the often distinctive circumstances related to their crimes.
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)