Criminal Responsibility for the Crime of Aggression

Description

Since the Nuremberg trial, the crime of aggression has been considered one of the gravest international crimes. However, since the 1940s no defendants have been charged with this crime, with some states actively opposing the notion of punishing aggression. The option of trying an individual for aggression is expressly included in the statute of the International Criminal Court. In 2010 the Assembly of States Parties adopted a definition of the crime of aggression and conditions of the exercise of jurisdiction over this crime by the Court. The Assembly also agreed that the decision on including the crime of aggression within the Court s jurisdiction would be made in 2017 at the earliest. It is still internationally debatable whether the criminalisation of aggression is an outcome to strive for, or whether its abandonment is more preferable. In" Criminal Responsibility for the Crime of Aggression, "Patrycja Grzebyk explores the scope of criminal responsibility of individuals for crimes of aggression and asks why those responsible for aggression are not brought to justice. The book first works to identify the legal norms that define and delegalise aggression, before moving to determine the basis and scope for the criminalisation of aggression. The book then goes on to identify the key risks and difficulties inherent in trials for aggression. Following a string of awards in Poland, including the Manfred Lachs Prize for the best first book on public international law, this cutting investigation of aggression is now deservedly made available to the wider world. In its extensive analysis of international trials on aggression, and its synthesis of legal, political and historical rhetoric, this book offers broad and striking insight into the criminal responsibility of individuals on a world stage. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Tables and charts List of abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Part I Outlawing aggression 1 War as an institution of law 1.1 Before the First World War 1.2 The League of Nations 1.3 The inter-war period 1.4 The United Nations system 1.5 Conclusions 2 The notion of aggression 2.1 Towards a definition of aggression 2.2 A definition of aggression 2.2.1 Chapeau of the definition 2.2.2 Acts of aggression 2.3 Conclusions Part II Criminalisation of aggression 3 The legal basis for criminalising aggression 3.1 The Treaty of Versailles 3.2 Inter-war ideas of an international tribunal and penal code 3.3 The statute and judgment of the International Military Tribunal 3.4 Statute and judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East 3.5 Peace treaties, occupation zone law and national law 3.6 Nuremberg principles and the Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind 3.7 The Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) 3.8 The Kampala Conference 3.9 Conclusions 4 Trials of individuals charged with the crime of aggression 4.1 The search for precedents 4.2 The Nuremberg trial 4.3 The Tokyo trial 4.4 Trials before courts in the occupation zones in Germany 4.4.1 Subsequent Nuremberg trials before American military courts 4.4.2 Trials before French courts 4.5 Trials before national courts 4.5.1 Trials before the Supreme National Tribunal in Poland 4.5.2 Trials before the Chinese Military Tribunal in Nanking 4.6 Conclusions 5 Scope of individual responsibility for the crime of aggression 5.1 Perpetrator of the crime of aggression 5.2 Actus reus 5.3 Stages of aggression 5.4 Mens rea 5.5 Grounds for excluding criminal responsibility owing to lack of guilt 5.6 Conclusions Part III Difficulties and risks 6 Procedural difficulties 6.1 Lack of jurisdiction 6.2 Surrender of person charged with a crime of aggression 6.3 Identification of aggressor 6.4 Immunity 6.5 Rights of a person charged with a crime of aggression 6.6 Statute of limitations and amnesty law 6.7 The principle of nullum crimen sine lege 6.8 Conclusions 7 Impact of aggression trials 7.1 Peace and security 7.2 International humanitarian law 7.3 The international criminal justice system 7.4 Conclusions Conclusion Notes Bibliography Appendix Index