Prescription of Criminal Liability in International Law

Abstract

The particular extent of the phenomenon of crime in modern society, the increasingly frequent violations of values that interest the international community as a whole or target the interests of a large number of states, as well as the emergence of organised crime which transcends national borders through criminal networks operating in the territory of several states, are the basis for the establishment and development of international criminal law as an expression of the coordination of efforts to ban and repress antisocial acts detrimental to the legality and progress of the entire contemporary human society. Attempts to define international criminal law have been made over the years, but it should be pointed out that international criminal law is a relatively new branch of law and is still in the process of being codified, i.e. through international agreements in the form of conventions or treaties establishing general rules with binding legal force. Its content is developing day by day, and is becoming more and more deeply embedded in the legal consciousness of nations, which is only to be expected if we consider the dynamics of international society in recent times. Its importance is constantly growing as the development of military technology, the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons and the threat of the use of atomic weapons require the legal protection of international security and peace.