Abstract
The preceding analysis of potential mechanisms to regulate ICA weapons, RCAs and related means of delivery has concentrated upon agreements, treaties and international law intended to constrain and influence the activities of States. Another important alternative approach is to address individual responsibility and culpability through the employment of international criminal law. According to Cassese: “International crimes are breaches of international rules entailing the personal criminal liability of the individuals concerned.”1 Some of the crimes under international law have been considered to be violations of jus cogens, peremptory norms that “have a rank and status superior to those of all the other rules of the international community” and which cannot be set aside by States, through for example a treaty.2 According to Oñate, Exterkate, Tabassi and van der Borght, although there was not necessarily a consensus on a definite list of such crimes under international law it has been widely accepted that war crimes and genocide would certainly be included.3 In addition, Hampson has added both aggression and crimes against humanity to this list.4 In certain situations, international criminal law could be applied by national courts or international courts to the use of, and possibly the transfer of, chemical weapons. As part of the HAC stage-two analysis, this chapter explores the potential applicability of international criminal law and judicial mechanisms to cases involving the serious misuse of ICA weapons and RCAs.
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Notes
Cassese, A. International Criminal Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 23, as cited by Oñate, S., Exterkate, B., Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. Lessons Learned: Chemicals Trader Convicted of War Crimes, Hague Justice Journal, volume 2, number 1, 2007, p. 37.
Cassese, A. International Criminal Law, 2nd edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 199. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (adopted 23rd May 1969, entered into force 27th January 1980) 1155 UNTS 331 Article 53, as cited by Oñate, S., Exterkate, B., Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. (2007) op.cit., p. 37.
Hampson, F. International Law and the Regulation of Weapons, in Pearson, A., Chevrier, M. and Wheelis, M. (eds), Incapacitating Biochemical Weapons. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007, pp. 231–260.
Allen, K. with Spence, S. and Leal, R. Chemical and Biological Weapons Use in the Rome Statute: A Case for Change, VERTIC brief 14, February 2011, p. 2.
Tabassi, L. (2004) op.cit., p. 2.
Tabassi, L. (2004) op.cit., p. 2.
Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. Chemical Warfare as Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, Hague Justice Journal, volume 2, number 1, 2007, p. 5.
Tabassi, L. (2004) op.cit., p. 2.
Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. (2007) op.cit., p. 22.
Ibid.
Hampson, F. (2007) op.cit., p. 232. For further information on these bodies, see Rikhof, J. Fewer Places to Hide? The Impact of Domestic War Crimes Prosecutions on International Impunity, Criminal Law Forum, volume 20, number 1, 2009, pp. 4–8; Zgonec-Rožej, M. (May 2010) op.cit., pp. 55–61 and 65–76.
For information and analysis of the Anfal trial, see International Centre for Transitional Justice, the Anfal trial and the Iraqi High Tribunal updates 1–3, 2006, available at http://ictj.org/publications (accessed 2nd April 2015); Trahan, J. A Critical Guide to the Iraqi High Tribunal’s Anfal Judgement: Genocide Against the Kurds, Michigan Journal of International Law, volume 30, 13th March 2009, pp. 305–407; Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. Chemical Warfare as Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Hague Justice Journal, volume 2, number 1, 2007.
For a detailed analysis, see Trahan, J. (2009) op.cit.
Hampson, F. (2007) op.cit., p. 232.
Oñate, S., Exterkate, B., Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. (2007) op.cit., p. 38.
Rikhof, J. (2009) op.cit., p. 8.
Hankin, S. Overview of Ways to Import Core International Crimes into National Criminal Law, in Bergsmo, M., Hayashi, M. and Harlem, N. (eds), Importing Core International Crimes into National Criminal Law, 2nd edn, Oslo: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, 2010, pp. 20–28.
Rikhof, J. (2009) op.cit., pp. 9–12.
For example, Australia, Jordan, Malta and the UK. See Rikhof, J. (2009) op.cit., p. 9. See also Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Ratification and Implementation, available at http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/?mod=ratimp (accessed 10th July 2015).
For example, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa and Uganda. See Rikhof, J. (2009) op.cit., p. 9; CICC website.
Oñate, S., Exterkate, B., Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. (2007) op.cit., p. 23.
Oñate, S., Exterkate, B., Tabassi, L. and van der Borght, E. (2007) op.cit., p. 23.
Meselson, M. and Perry Robinson, J. A Draft Convention to Prohibit Biological and Chemical Weapons Under International Criminal Law, Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, volume 28, edition 1, Winter 2004, pp. 57–70, at p. 57.
Ibid.
Meselson, M. and Robinson, J. P. (2004) op.cit., p. 58.
Ibid.
Perry Robinson, J. Criminalization of Biological and Chemical Armament, CBW Conventions Bulletin, Special Issue, February 2011, Harvard Sussex Program, p. 4.
Meselson, M. and Robinson, J. P. (2004) op.cit., p. 61.
Perry Robinson, J. (2011) op.cit., p. 5.
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Crowley, M. (2016). International Criminal Law Applicable to ICA Weapons and Riot Control Agents. In: Chemical Control. Global Issues Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137467140_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137467140_9
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