Binocular Vision: State Responsibility and Individual Criminal Responsibility for Genocide

Abstract

This chapter examines how the recent practice of international courts has brought to the fore the differences and commonalities between the prohibition of genocide as a penal norm for individuals and the prohibition as a sui generis obligation for states. It also examines the duality of the Genocide Convention, expressed through the two regimes for responsibility and the multiple systems for enforcement. The chapter discusses three areas that reveal the interplay between state responsibility for genocide and individual criminal responsibility such as the question of prerequisites for holding states and individuals responsible, complicity for genocide, and remedies. It analyses process for establishing state responsibility for acts of non-state actors and individuals. Finally, the chapter explores the procedural interaction between international courts in terms of the standards of proof adopted and the use of each other's judicial findings. Keywords:genocide; individual criminal responsibility; international courts; state responsibility