A Theory of International Crimes: Conceptual and Normative Issues

ALEJANDRO CHEHTMAN

The Oxford Handbook of International Criminal Law

Oxford University Press

Lugar: New York; Año: 2020;

The quest for a unified account of international criminalization is an important part of a compelling general theory of international criminal law (ICL). Any such account would need to have a conceptual and a normative dimension. This chapter addresses these two dimensions in turn. At a conceptual level, it argues that international crimes are criminal prohibitions provided under international law that apply globally. This entails, first, that perpetrators of these crimes can be brought to justice by any national authority as well as by international and regional tribunals with no traditional connection to the crime, the perpetrators, or the victims. Second, that they can be brought to justice on the basis of international law alone, irrespective of the specific legislation of any national authority allowing or even mandating such conduct. At a normative level, it argues that international crimes must be justified before the affected political community within which they take place. Ultimately, extraterritorial jurisdiction over them is based on the fact that international criminalization contributes to the well-being of individuals in different parts of the world by communicating that they are the bearers of fundamental legal rights and that those rights are protected by International Law. This symbolic function is particularly important because international crimes are perpetrated, instigated or allowed by the state within which they are perpetrated, or this state cannot do anything about them. ICL thus provides individuals an important benefit that domestic criminal justice systems cannot provide on their own.