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12 - War Crimes

from PART D - SUBSTANTIVE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Robert Cryer ,
Hakan Friman ,
Darryl Robinson  and
Elizabeth Wilmshurst
Robert Cryer
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Hakan Friman
Affiliation:
University College London
Darryl Robinson
Affiliation:
Queen's University, Ontario
Elizabeth Wilmshurst
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

Introduction

Overview

A war crime is a serious violation of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict (also known as international humanitarian law) which gives rise to individual criminal responsibility under international law. Because the law of war crimes is based on international humanitarian law, section 12.1 will explain the relevant underlying principles of international humanitarian law, and then the development of war crimes law. Section 12.2 will review issues common to all war crimes, namely the existence of armed conflict, the nexus between the conduct and the armed conflict, and the role of the perpetrator and victim. Section 12.3 will survey the specific offences constituting war crimes.

Unlike crimes against humanity, war crimes have no requirement of widespread or systematic commission. A single isolated act can constitute a war crime. For war crimes law, it is the situation of armed conflict that justifies international concern.

A brief history of humanitarian law

Laws and customs regulating warfare may be traced back to ancient times. While such norms have varied between civilizations and centuries, and were often shockingly lax by modern standards, it is significant that diverse cultures around the globe have recorded agreements, religious edicts and military instructions laying out ground rules for military conflict. In recent centuries, military codes – such as the Lieber Code promulgated during the American Civil War – have refined and developed these customs.

Type
Chapter
Information
An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure , pp. 267 - 311
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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