International criminal law is a hybrid branch that governs international crimes like war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. It developed from a state sovereignty approach to one focused on human rights. ICL derives from treaties, customary international law, and general principles recognized by most legal systems. Treaties can impose obligations on individuals if intended by drafters. ICL is also influenced by international human rights law and international humanitarian law. National courts and international tribunals both play roles in enforcing ICL based on the principle of complementarity.

1. International Criminal Law
Dr. Masoud Zamani

2. What Is International Criminal Law?

3. International Criminal
Law
• A hybrid branch of international law
governing the legal framework of
international crimes: war crimes, crimes
against humanity, genocide and
aggression and the principles and
procedures governing the international
investigation and prosecution of these
crimes.

4. A hybrid model of law
• International law governs rights and
responsibilities of states.
• Criminal law regulates prohibitions pertaining to
individuals.

5. Origins of ICL

6. Sovereignty Based Approach v.
Individuals’ Based Approach
• ICTY: A state-sovereignty-oriented
approach has been gradually
supplanted by a human-being-oriented
approach in international law.
(PROSECUTOR DUSKO TADIC DECISION
ON THE DEFENCE MOTION FOR
INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL ON
JURISDICTION)

7. National Courts and
International Tribunals
• The greater part of the enforcement of
international criminal law is undertaken
by domestic authorities (The Principle
of Complementarity)

8. ICL v. TCL (Transnational
Criminal Law)
• TCL concerns the rules of national
jurisdiction under which a State enacts
and enforces its own criminal law
where there is some transnational
aspect of a crime (A foreign element).

9. ICL v. TCL
• 1. Substantive approach to international crimes: ICL
addresses crimes of concern to the international
community.
• ICC Statute: International crimes ‘threaten the peace,
security and well-being of the world.’
• 2. State-Agency: International crimes typically have
some elements of state-agency
• 3. International Crimes are created by international
law.

10. International Crimes
• Genocide
• Crimes against Humanity
• War Crimes
• Aggression

11. Sources of International Criminal Law

12. Examples of Applicable Treaties
1907
Hague Regulations on Laws and Customs of War
1949
Geneva Conventions and Their Additional Protocols
1949
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide

13. Do Treaties Impose
Obligations on
Individuals?

14. Permanent Court of
International Justice
• Treaties can operate directly on
individuals if that is the intention of
drafters (Jurisdiction of the Courts of
Danzig, 1927)

15. Legal Implication (1)

16. Legal Implication 2
• If a Court is to apply the terms of a
treaty directly to an individual, it will be
necessary to show that the prohibited
conduct has taken place in the territory
of a State party to the treaty.
• Occasional Deviations: Tadic Case,
Kordic Case and Cerkez (Treaties may be
sufficient in establishing criminal
responsibility.)

17. Customary International Law
Body of law which derives from the practice
of states accompanied by opinio juris
Opinio Juris: A Belief Held in Obligation

18. General Principles of Law

19. General principles of law
apply in the absence of the
first two sources

20. Article 21(1)(C) of the
Statute
• general principles of law derived by the
Court from national laws of legal
systems of the world including, as
appropriate, the national laws of States
that would normally exercise
jurisdiction over the crime, provided
that those principles are not
inconsistent with [the] Statute and with
international law and internationally
recognized norms and standards.

21. Judicial Decision in
International Criminal Law
• Stare Decisis Rule: there is no stare
decisis in international law.
Domestic case law is a major material
source of evidence about international
criminal law. However, a caveat must be
entered in this regard. The assertions of
international law in domestic cases can be
affected by local idiosyncrasies. (Cryer et
al, 2007)

22. ICL and International
Human Rights
• Similarities:
1. Both seek to provide a minimum standard of humane treatment
2. Both have a direct impact on individuals

23. ICTY and Human
Rights Law

24. ICTR and Human
Rights

25. ICL and Human Rights

26. ICL and International
Humanitarian Law
• International humanitarian law serves as
point of reference in understanding and
interpreting the corresponding war
crimes.

27. References
• Cryer, Robert, Darryl Robinson, and Sergey Vasiliev. An
introduction to international criminal law and procedure.
Cambridge University Press, 2019.
• Schabas, William, ed. The Cambridge companion to
international criminal law. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
• Greenwood, Christopher. "The development of international
humanitarian law by the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia." Max Planck Yearbook of United
Nations Law Online 2, no. 1 (1998): 97-140.
Cases:
• Tadić (IT-94-1)
• Erdemović (IT-96-22)