In global legal norms there is no single concept of an international crime. However, they contain its main features. In various sources there is such a definition as "an international crime against humanity and the world." Many scientists and the UN Commission consider these terms synonymous. In this regard, it was decided not to introduce a general definition. The UN Commission came to the conclusion that the establishment of the general limits of the concept defining international crimes, the concept and types of such acts provided for in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal (in Article 6) should be implemented in practice.
General definition
Currently, many definitions are offered in world and domestic literature. After analyzing them, experts tried to formulate a general definition. An international criminal offense constitutes a violation of global legal requirements. It entails individual punishment for the person who committed it. The main sign of such an act is its principle jurisdiction of the court of any country that wants and has the ability to start the relevant proceedings. This feature distinguishes international crimes from ordinary acts, the prosecution of which concerns the doctrine of state sovereignty.
Related category
Crimes of an international nature constitute an encroachment on peaceful cooperation in various fields of relations: property, socio-cultural, economic and so on. Such acts prejudice legal entities and citizens of various countries. Punishments for crimes of an international nature can be established in relevant interstate agreements. However, such treaties must be ratified by the signatory countries. The prosecution of those responsible in this case is carried out within the specific state jurisdiction. Such acts, as a rule, include piracy, hijacking, counterfeiting, the manufacture and distribution of drugs, and so on.
What signs do international crimes have?
Their characteristics are based on certain features. First of all, it is a wide scope. An international crime, a crime against peace encompasses violations of both ordinary, general norms and the terms of interstate agreements. Prescriptions that the guilty entity does not comply with should be aimed at protecting specific values. They are considered by the world community as the most important and connecting all people and all countries. The main values are fixed:
- In the UN Charter.
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- European Convention.
- International Covenants.
- Geneva Convention, etc.
The fight against international crimes is a challenge for the entire world community.
Main types
The following types of international crimes are distinguished in regulatory documents:
- Genocide.
- Military attacks.
- Crimes against humanity.
- Aggression.
Genocide
This definition covers international law crimes committed with the aim of destroying an ethnic, religious or national group. These include, in particular:
- Killing community members.
- Prevention of childbearing.
- Mental impact.
- Limitation of conditions for normal life.
- Physical damage.
These international crimes are enshrined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide of it of 1948, in the Rome Statute of the ICC of 1998.
Assault on citizens
The following international crimes are included in this category:
- Enslavement.
- The killings.
- Link.
- Persecution for religious, racial, political and other reasons, etc.
These acts are reflected in the Rome Statute, the Statute of the international tribunal.
Military attacks
These include international crimes:
- Slavery against residents of the occupied territory.
- The torture of civilians.
- The killings of citizens.
- Violence against prisoners of war.
- Killings of hostages.
- Ruin and robbery of private or public property, not justified by military maneuvers.
- Destruction of villages or cities, etc.
Such crimes are enshrined in the Charter of the Tribunal, the Rome Statute, the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.
Domestic law
Responsibility for international crimes is recorded in Sec. 34 of the Criminal Code. It provides for punishment under the following articles:
- 354 - for a public call for a war.
- 356 - for the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare.
- 357 - for genocide.
- 360 - for attacking institutions and persons under international protection.
It should be said that Art. 356 of the Criminal Code is inherently blanket because it contains a link to interstate agreements with the Russian Federation.
Recognition of Acts: Consequences
Researchers identify several of the most significant legal consequences of classifying abuses as international crimes:
- Acts of this category are punished regardless of whether any sanctions are provided for them in domestic law.
- International assaults may be prosecuted by courts which, under other (ordinary) circumstances, would not have jurisdiction. This means that the subjects who are allegedly responsible for their commission can be convicted and punished by any country, regardless of the territorial connection with the act and the citizenship of the victim or attacker. The absence of a direct threat to the security or national interests of this state will not matter. Thus, prosecution is carried out by the court, even if there are no traditional grounds for jurisdiction.
- International encroachments soften generally accepted norms providing for the immunity of heads of countries and other senior officials from persecution. This means that the person who committed this kind of act acted as a state official, a representative of the state. The inviolability of the criminal or civil jurisdiction of the competent courts and foreign countries does not extend to such a subject. As an exception, acting state heads, diplomatic representatives, foreign ministers, who enjoy immunity until the moment they leave their posts, are acting.
- The court may be granted temporary jurisdiction over international acts committed prior to its establishment. This rule is limited only to cases where the assault was criminalized in the global norms at the time of commission.
- For international crimes, in any case, such as genocide, war crimes, torture, acts against humanity, the statute of limitations may not apply.
- Amnesty acts adopted by the authorities of countries whose citizens are the subjects who allegedly committed the acts or in whose territory the alleged violations took place do not bind the courts of other states and other competent authorities.
Attacks on protected subjects
The list of persons whose acts are recognized as international crimes is enshrined in the relevant convention. According to the document, the subjects under protection should include:
- The head of state or each member of the collegial body performing his duties.
- An official or other agent of an international intergovernmental organization, members of their families living with them.
- Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- Representatives of the state or other officials with the right to special protection.
- Head of government.
- Accompanying persons of the above entities, members of their families.
Forethought
It is established in relation to crimes if it was committed:
- The abduction, murder or other encroachment on the freedom and identity of a subject under special protection.
- Assault with violence on a residential, official premises, vehicle of such a person.
- Attempted assault.
- Complicity in the attack.
- Expression of threats against a person under special protection.
Unlike the domestic criminal system, international law provides for a wider range of acts. In this case, the motive by which the assault was committed does not matter. The main provisions for special protection of persons are established in the conventions. One of them was adopted in 1994. It regulates the safety of UN personnel and related persons. The latter, in particular, include participants in
peacekeeping operations, employees of non-governmental organizations providing humanitarian assistance. Violations of such entities
are recognized as crimes in accordance with national criminal law.
Hostage taking
This crime is characterized as a dangerous terrorist act. Initially, hostage-taking was classified as a violation of generally accepted norms in the world only if it was associated with armed conflict. The characteristic of this crime is established in the Convention of 1979, to which the USSR joined in 1987. The document, in particular, says that an entity that seizes and holds another person, threatening to kill, cause harm, or continues to hold him in order to force the state, intergovernmental organization or any citizen / legal entity to commit an act as a prerequisite for release , takes hostage. An attempt to participate in such an act is also considered as such a crime. In this case, it is a crime of an international nature. In this regard, in Art. 13 of the convention stipulates that the provisions of the document do not apply to cases when the seizure of citizens is committed within the territory of one country, and the attacker and the victim are his citizens, while the first is in this state. This note establishes a framework for the interaction of powers in the fight against such a crime. At the same time, this reservation does not prevent the government of the state from punishing for any act of hostage taking in its own legislation.
Drug trafficking
Illegal operations related to the manufacture, sale of such substances, for many decades, act as an object of international regulatory impact. Today in the world there are Unified conventions on psychotropic and narcotic drugs. They imply broad legal regulation, provide for methods of control over the trafficking of prohibited compounds. In particular, punishment is provided for illegal:
- Import / Export.
- Storage.
- Cultivation and production.
- Sale / purchase.
The UN Convention, which regulates methods for combating the illicit trafficking of such compounds, is the new normative act. This document was adopted in 1988. The USSR ratified it in 1989. The convention proclaims that the elimination of the illegal distribution, manufacture, storage of narcotic, psychotropic substances acts as a collective duty of all countries. The list of actions that qualify as a deliberate violation of established regulations is given in Art. 3. Domestic law also provides for liability for such acts. The Federal Law "On Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances", adopted in 1998, has complex significance. It approved the foundations of government policy in the field of illicit trafficking of these substances, there are references to
international acts.Aircraft capture
This crime is also described in the relevant UN Convention. The document notes that an act of this kind threatens the safety of property and persons, causes significant damage to air traffic, and undermines the belief of citizens in the safety of flights. The characteristics of the crime are given in Art. 1 convention. Unlawful acts are recognized as an act, using violence or under such a threat or using another form of intimidation, hijacking or control of an aircraft taken by any person on board a ship in flight. This category of crimes also includes an attempt to commit it and complicity in it. An airplane is considered to be in flight from the moment the external doors are closed after loading is made until any of them are opened for unloading. The Convention applies to cases where the place of actual landing or take-off is outside the registration of the aircraft. In this case, it will not matter whether a domestic or international flight has been made.
The Convention does not limit the state in establishing liability in its own legislation for such crimes. In Russia, the question of punishment is decided as follows. Responsibility is not determined by factors noted by the convention and related to the interaction of countries. It applies to any cases of hijacking or hijacking of an aircraft. Moreover, the punishment extends to acts committed not only in flight, but during their stay on the ground. The restrictive provisions laid down in the convention do not affect national jurisdiction.
Additionally
Today, another category is singled out - cross-border crime. As a rule, such acts constitute an infringement that has harmed the interests of organizations or citizens of different countries. That is, the damage in this case extends beyond the borders of one state. Organized crime has recently acquired such a character .