EVOLUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW AND THE ICC (By- Pranav Bhatnagar)
The Second World War had
spread so much devastation in the world that it became important for the
nation-states to formulate proper measures to hold states and individuals
liable for actions during wars. After taking the past into due consideration,
it could be traced that there had been multiple cases of crimes during wars
that could not be judged to be belonging to a particular jurisdiction.
Moreover, the mayhem that Hitler and the Nazis had spread in Germany and the
crimes conducted in Japan, led to the formation of Nuremberg and Tokyo
international military tribunals.
CHARTER OF NUREMBERG
INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL
Article 6 of the
charter elucidates the acts for which individuals can be legally punished or
penalized. They are as follows:
- Crimes against peace
- War crimes
- Crimes against Humanity
the charter stated that
any individual who is in any way holding a role in the planning, preparation,
initiation, or waging of war; murder, inhuman acts against people, violating
the laws of war shall be prosecuted.
The Nuremberg and Tokyo
trials together played a significant role in expanding and forming case laws on
the concept of Individual Criminal Responsibility. After the London Agreement
in 1945, the United Nations General Assembly took matters concerning
international law into its own hands. The UNGA had already affirmed the
principles related to international law under the charter of the Nuremberg
military tribunal by the way of a resolution {Affirmation of the Principles of
International Law by the Charter Of the Nuremberg Tribunal}. This means that
there was no further need to cross-check or examine the principles mentioned
under the charter. Now, the UNGA had only one task, codifying international law
by the International Law Commission. The International law commission adopted
the resolution in the year 1950 and worked following the affirmation of the
United Nations General Assembly.
ILC only concentrated on making the body of
those principles and codifying them.
Principles of
International Law as stated:
Principle 1- The most
basic introduction of any statute states the definition of the topic that the
statute is covering. Similarly, principle one of International law stated that
any person or group, or community that commits an act that is considered a
crime under international law shall be punished for the same.
Principle 2- states
that even if the crime committed by the person is not a crime under the
domestic laws of the nation he belongs to, doesn't mean that he can shed his
responsibility. He shall still be tried under the International Law.
Principles 3 and 4
(also articles 7 and 8 of the Nuremberg Charter)- Focused on explaining that no
matter what the designation of the person is, whether he is working in the
government or for the state or works on the orders of the government shall not
be deprived of his responsibility.
Principle 4 also states
that the moral choice of the person also plays a significant role. This
particular principle gives discretionary powers to the tribunal to decide from
case to case3 whether the accused had any other choice or it was solely his
intention.
Principle 6 has special
relevance to Article 6 of the Charter of Nuremberg. Both codify the 3 types of
International law namely: Crimes against peace; crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
After the convention
was set up, the four Geneva conventions, particularly, 1949 and the Hague
convention of 1954 played a significant role in shaping the statutes of
international criminal law. All these charters and conventions established the
grounds for the future International criminal code and the International
Criminal Court.