The crime against humanity between The Statute of The Hague Tribunal (ICTY) and Serbian Criminal Law

Abstract

International criminal law, as a system of legal regulations found in acts of the international community and criminal legislations of individual states, establishes criminal liability and punishments for crimes against international law. These acts represent breaches of the laws and customs of war (international humanitarian law) that violate or threaten peace among nations and the security of mankind. Penalties prescribed for these criminal offences stand for the most severe penalties in contemporary criminal legislation. In some cases, international judiciary (supranational) institutions such as The Hague Tribunal (ICTY) and the others of international military and ad hoc tribunals or courts have primary jurisdiction over perpetrators of these criminal offences. Crime against humanity, defined in paragraph 371. of The New Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia (2005), represents a newly introduced criminal offence1 whose establishment is related to the Statute of The International Military Tribunal from 1945 and the Nurnberg Judgment. It is a serious crime against international law that threatens characteristic values of the entire mankind, or values that are considered as generally humane. The development of the concept of crime against humanity was predominantly influenced by the idea of the need to protect fundamental human rights and freedoms. Crime against humanity (crimen iuris gentium) is based upon violations of fundamental laws of humanity, i.e. each person’s right to life and the right of ethnical group to exist as such. In legislation, theory and practice, this term can be interpreted in the broader sense, as well. In this paper the author has analyzed theoretical and practical aspects of crime against humanity in international criminal law and new criminal law of Republic of Serbia (former FR Yugoslavia).