Setting limits to Judicial Discretion in Interpreting Crimes: the Role of the Legality Principle at the International Criminal Court

This thesis examined how the legality principle (article 22 Rome Statute) sets limits to the judicial interpretation of crimes and evaluates, through two case studies, whether the ICC judiciary has respected those legality limits. The first case study evaluates the judicial interpretation of the organisational policy element as a contextual element of crimes against humanity. The second case study evaluates the judicial interpretations of practices referred to as forced marriage and assesses the use of crime labels such as the residual categories of ‘other inhumane acts' and ‘other sexual violence'.