Criminal Law Essay Sample

WARCRIMES INCRIMINAL LAW

There is a general agreement that war crimes, due to theseverity of injuries inflicted on the basic civilizational values,require fair but exemplary punishment. The horrors andvictims of wars abounding in contemporary human historyhave developed awareness of the necessity of suppressingthe widespread culture of the impunity of war crimes that aretraditionally considered as \"necessary\" collateral phenomenaarising in armed conflicts (Armatta, 2010).The Nurnberg trials after the Second World War and theHolocaust were the outcome of the violent violations of theelementary norms of humanity and then the increasinglyapparent aspiration of international communities to undergolegal treatment and appropriate sanctions against interstateand internal conflicts. This approach is also emphasized in thePreamble to the Statute of the International Criminal Court,which states that \"the most serious criminal offenses theinternational community concerned as a whole must not gounpunished\", that \"the effective prosecution of theirperpetrators must be ensured by taking appropriate measuresat the national level and by strengthening internationalcooperation, as well as that the states of the signatories are\"resolved to change the current practice of punishing theperpetrators of these criminal offenses, thus contributing totheir prevention\" (UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of theInternational Criminal Court, 1998).

Antonio Cassese sees the overall purpose of internationalcriminal justice related to the issue of war crimes in the needof \"the international community's response to the rebellion\",namely to finding adequate legal responses of a graveviolation of international human dignity or humanitarian lawstandards that reached the threshold when they becameinternational criminals\". (Cassesse, 2005). Međunarodnokrivično pravo, Beogradski centar za ljudska prava, Beograd,str. 6) Otherwise, as an unacceptable alternative, thedefendant's trial for committed offenses can only be \"revengeor forgetfulness\".Regarding the aforementioned view and, above all, theretributive approach contemporary international criminal law isdeveloped into the matter of war crimes. With more or lesssuccess, it strives to adjust the material and procedural rulesthat address these civilizable unacceptable parts to theirweight and to establish appropriate criminal justicemechanisms in the form of international and national formationthat will contribute in an effective way to the goals of punishingand preventing this crime scene. Formation of theInternational Criminal Court and adoption of the so-calledRome Statute was a major step in that direction, though, asthey will be seen from later appearances, they are leavingmany current issues of application of international criminal andhumanitarian law open.

The significance of this subject matter lies in the above-mentioned reasons of general character and, above all, inthe view that adequate material and procedural criminal lawis the correct way to abolish punishability and legallyinadequate treatment war crimes. The transition to a stabledemocracy and the strengthening of the role of the law is notpossible without the introduction of justice and accountabilityfor war crimes through the key instrument of justice - warcrimes trials. It is, of course, a turning point from politicalinterpretation of the past to confront the facts established inimpartial, just and professional courts and on the basis ofindictments of highly professional prosecutors. ReferencesArmatta, J. (2010). Twilight of Impunity: The War CrimesTrial of Slobodan Milosevic, Durham: Duke University Press.Cassesse, A. (2005). International Criminal Law, Oxford:OUP Oxford.UN General Assembly, Rome Statute of the InternationalCriminal Court (last amended 2010), 17 July 1998, ISBN No.92-9227-227-6