INTRODUCTION:

International Criminal Law is a body of public international law designed to prohibit

certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make
perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. The core
crimes under international law are genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity
and the crimes of aggression. Classical International law governs the relationships,
rights and responsibilities of states. Criminal Law generally deals with prohibitions
addressed to individuals and penal sanctions for violation of those prohibition
imposed by individual states. International Criminal Law comprises elements of
both in that although its sources are those of international law, its consequences are
penal sanctions imposed on individuals.

The first multilateral ICL in the strict sense was the 1856 Paris Declaration
Respecting Maritime Law, referenced earlier in connection with the history of
piracy, which addressed privateering and the neutrality of commercial ships in
times of war, among other topics. It was followed by the First Geneva Convention of
1864. This treaty was the brainchild of Henry Dunant. By the turn of the century, the
international community increasingly turned its attention to codifying the laws of
war. Peace conferences were held in The Hague in 1899 and 1907 that led to the
conclusion of multiple conventions addressing land and maritime war. The original
customary and conventional law of war implicated only state responsibility. In the
event of a breach, responsible states were liable to pay reparations or provide other
civil remedies to aggrieved nations. Only later did states begin to impose individual
criminal liability on breaches of the law of war.

DEVELOPMENT OF ICL:

The international criminal proceedings following World War II are credited with
launching the modern regime of international criminal law (ICL). Antecedents,
however, trace back for centuries and across the globe. In particular ICL draws on
four main strands of international law history:

• nineteenth-century prohibitions against piracy

• the subsequent regulations of slavery and the slave trade,

• the once theological and later secular theory of just war,

• international humanitarian law (IHL) or the ‘‘law of war.’’

On this foundation, the international community gradually built the norms, rules,
instruments, and institutions that now make up the modern ICL machinery.

POST WORLD WAR SCENARIO:

WORLD WAR-I IMPACT ON ICL:

Treaty of Versailles:

A further leap was made in the twentieth century. After the First World War, the
Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919 — in its Articles 2 28 and 229 — established the
right of the Allied Powers to try and punish individuals responsible for “violations of
the laws and customs of war” In the case of an individual “guilty of criminal acts
against the nationals of more than one of the Allied and Associated Powers”, the
possibility of setting up an international tribunal was provided for.

WORLD WAR II IMPACT ON ICL

It was only after the Second World War that a movement started up within the
international community which clearly began to shape a deeper consciousness of
the need to prosecute serious violations of the laws of war, with regard both to the
traditional responsibility of States and to the personal responsibility of individuals.
The horrible crimes committed by the Nazis and the Japanese led to a quick
conclusion of agreements among the Allied Powers and to the subsequent
establishment of the Nuremberg and Tokyo International Military Tribunals “for the
trial of war criminals whose offences have no particular geographical location
whether they be accused individually or in their capacity as members of
organisations or groups or in both capacities” These special jurisdictions also took
into account the new categories of crimes against humanity and crimes against
peace.

Article 6 of the Charter of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal

established the legal basis for trying individuals accused of the following acts:

— Crimes against peace

— War crimes

— Crimes against humanity

As far as jurisdiction ratione personae is concerned, it covered “leaders, organisers,
instigators and accomplices” who had taken part in the formulation or execution of a
common plan or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes: all of them were
considered for “all acts performed by any persons in the execution of such plan”.

Impact of Nuremberg and Tokyo trials on Development of ICL:

The Nuremberg trials and,Tokyo trials produced a large number of judgements,

which have greatly contributed to the forming of case law regarding individual
criminal responsibility under international law. The jurisdictional experience of
Nuremberg and Tokyo marked the start of a gradual process of precise formulation
and consolidation of principles and rules during which States and international
organizations launched initiatives to bring about codification through the adoption
of treaties.

DEVELOPMENT OF ICL THROUGH TRIBUNALS & COURTS:

1.FORMATION OF ICC:

 The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the world’s only

permanent international court with a mandate to investigate and
prosecute individuals who participate in the international atrocity
crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The ICC’s
jurisdiction may expand in 2017 to include the crime of aggression.

 A multilateral treaty called the Rome Statute established the ICC. The
Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 and the ICC began operations in
2002 once the Rome Statute was ratified by the 60th country. The ICC
is an independent institution that is not a part of the United Nations
(UN), but cooperates with the UN and its agencies.

 By law of the Rome Statute, the ICC may only investigate and prosecute
when a national jurisdiction is “unwilling or unable” to do so
themselves, and may only address the gravest crimes. Further, the
Rome Statute and other core documents require the ICC to use the
highest standards of due process and fair trial.
2.TRIBUNAL:

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, 1993:

 The Yugoslavia Tribunal (ICTY) was established by the United Nations

Security Council under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter on 25 May 1993.
The ICTY is an ad-hoc Tribunal and has jurisdiction over crimes under
international law committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia
since 1 January 1991. It has jurisdiction only over those crimes that are
“beyond doubt customary law”, such as war crimes, genocide and
crimes against humanity (see Art. 2-5 of the ICTY Statute).

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 1994.

 Like the ICTY, the Rwanda Tribunal (ICTR) was established by the
Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter as an ad-
hoc Tribunal on 8 November 1994. The Tribunal has jurisdiction over
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been
committed on the territory of Rwanda or by Rwandan citizens.

3. Hybrid courts:

A new type of transitional justice has recently emerged in a number of states:

National ad hoc tribunals working with international assistance and partly applying
international criminal law. Such “hybrid courts” have been established in East Timor
(2002), Sierra Leone (2002) and Cambodia (2003)

CONCLUSION:

 The pioneering work of international criminal tribunals has kick-

started the cause of international justice, but it has also exposed the
limits of these same institutions. International trials are slow,
expensive and ultimately they depend upon the cooperation of states.
National courts must be a big part of any general strategy for the
enforcement of international criminal law, and a proper balance must
be found between national and international criminal jurisdiction.

 The establishment and functioning of international criminal courts and

tribunals is certainly an important historic accomplishment, but this
success should not blind us to the fact that these international
institutions have only limited economic and political resources which
should be used wisely.