The Question of the establishment of an International Criminal Jurisdiction

Abstract

The General Assembly of the United Nations, at its 179th plenary meeting on December 9, 1948, unanimously approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and proposed it for signature and ratification or accession in accordance with Article XI thereof. Article I of the Convention provides that “genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law.” Article V stipulates that the Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective constitutions, the necessary legislation to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of genocide or any of the other acts made punishable under the Convention. Such persons are to be tried, according to Article VI, “by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.” The Convention thus envisages the possible creation of an international penal tribunal.