TY - CHAP
T1 - Jurists’ responsibility for crimes of dictatorships
T2 - An international criminal law perspective: modes of liability’
AU - van Sliedregt, Elies
PY - 2025/5/9
Y1 - 2025/5/9
N2 - This chapter explores the different modes of liability that international prosecutors and courts can use when prosecuting and adjudicating jurists and/or judges for their participation in human rights violations such as murder, torture, and unlawful detention. The chapter begins by discussing the special nature of international crimes, illustrated by considering how the US military tribunal at Nuremberg construed criminal liability of jurists for war crimes and crimes against humanity. I build on this case to discuss three specific legal problems: (i) how to conceptualize liability as part of a system, (ii) how to attribute criminality on the basis of generic contributions (i.e., acts that are not criminal and/or have an everyday nature), and (iii) how to deal with deviation between crime on the ground and its triggers in conduct at decision-making level (e.g., in the courtroom or among policymakers). This discussion requires me, in turn, to discuss the following modes of responsibility: common purpose/JCE liability, aiding and abetting, and leadership liability (interlinked JCE and indirect co-perpetration). The chapter will then discuss the recent Argentinian trial in which judges were convicted and sentenced for their participation in (the failure to halt) international crimes to see how this ruling compares to international criminal law, in particular modes of liability.
AB - This chapter explores the different modes of liability that international prosecutors and courts can use when prosecuting and adjudicating jurists and/or judges for their participation in human rights violations such as murder, torture, and unlawful detention. The chapter begins by discussing the special nature of international crimes, illustrated by considering how the US military tribunal at Nuremberg construed criminal liability of jurists for war crimes and crimes against humanity. I build on this case to discuss three specific legal problems: (i) how to conceptualize liability as part of a system, (ii) how to attribute criminality on the basis of generic contributions (i.e., acts that are not criminal and/or have an everyday nature), and (iii) how to deal with deviation between crime on the ground and its triggers in conduct at decision-making level (e.g., in the courtroom or among policymakers). This discussion requires me, in turn, to discuss the following modes of responsibility: common purpose/JCE liability, aiding and abetting, and leadership liability (interlinked JCE and indirect co-perpetration). The chapter will then discuss the recent Argentinian trial in which judges were convicted and sentenced for their participation in (the failure to halt) international crimes to see how this ruling compares to international criminal law, in particular modes of liability.
U2 - 10.4324/9781003470069-21
DO - 10.4324/9781003470069-21
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9781032746043
SN - 9781032746081
T3 - Directions and Developments in Criminal Justice and Law
SP - 218
EP - 230
BT - Transitional justice and the criminal responsibility of judges
A2 - Cardenas, Claudia
A2 - Couso, Jaime
A2 - Jessberger, Florian
A2 - Kuhli, Milan
PB - Routledge
CY - New York
ER -