Of course it's good to have the crime defined before a prosecution, but a lack of definition doesn't neutralize jurisdiction of an international tribunal. One idea is to look at the problem as you would the mens rea of knowingly. It includes "should have known." If a competent court decides an actor should have known, that's it.
Benjamin Ferencz' noble effort to establish effective, potent international deterrence to war crimes is summed up in his phrase, "Law not war". One simple yet profound reform at the United Nations would bring such a global legal condition about. Make it mandatory for every United Nations member state to sign the Rome Statute, thereby agreeing to the International Court's jurisdiction - or face expulsion from the United Nations. What member state would risk the international backlash and crippling of its reputation, with the extremely high level of negative consequences, of positioning itself as "ok" with war crimes in the eyes of humanity? One simple yet profound, world transforming United Nations reform...
this turned into an argument between the Europeans and the Americans ... both interesting points of view, but the moderator really should have tried to moderate professor koh who was most boisterous.
Of course it's good to have the crime defined before a prosecution, but a lack of definition doesn't neutralize jurisdiction of an international tribunal. One idea is to look at the problem as you would the mens rea of knowingly. It includes "should have known." If a competent court decides an actor should have known, that's it.
Benjamin Ferencz' noble effort to establish effective, potent international deterrence to war crimes is summed up in his phrase, "Law not war". One simple yet profound reform at the United Nations would bring such a global legal condition about. Make it mandatory for every United Nations member state to sign the Rome Statute, thereby agreeing to the International Court's jurisdiction - or face expulsion from the United Nations. What member state would risk the international backlash and crippling of its reputation, with the extremely high level of negative consequences, of positioning itself as "ok" with war crimes in the eyes of humanity? One simple yet profound, world transforming United Nations reform...
this turned into an argument between the Europeans and the Americans ... both interesting points of view, but the moderator really should have tried to moderate professor koh who was most boisterous.
Emmanuel Sebastiao, it is indeed true.
true but he represents America and Nuremberg was about Nazi Germany losing and badly.