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:
  1. Crimes against peace
  2. War crimes 
  3. 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.