War crimes

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Definition[edit | edit source]

War crimes
Individual criminal responsibility for war crimes is stipulated in Article 8 of the Rome Statute. Article 8(1) of the Rome Statute stipulates that the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over war crimes “in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes”. War crimes, unlike crimes against humanity, do not have to be committed as part of a widespread attack against the civilian population,[1] but they have to be committed during an armed conflict.

As international humanitarian law applies to cyber operations during armed conflicts, serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by cyber means may qualify as war crimes.[2] The Tallinn Manual 2.0 explains that such war crimes under customary international law include the grave breaches in Articles 50, 51, 130, and 147 of the four Geneva Conventions respectively, Article 85 of AP I, as well as the offences stated in Article 8 of the Rome Statute regarding both international and non-international armed conflicts as war crimes under customary international law.[3]

Appendixes[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes and references[edit | edit source]

  1. CLICC commentary, Art 8 (1) (noting that “it is unlikely that a single act would meet the gravity threshold in Article 17(1)(d)” of the Rome Statute).
  2. Tallinn Manual 2.0, commentary to rule 84, para 2.
  3. Tallinn Manual 2.0, commentary to rule 84, para 1. See also Kai Ambos, ‘International Criminal Responsibility in Cyberspace’ in Nicholas Tsagourias and Russell Buchan (eds), Research Handbook on Cyberspace and International Law (Elgar 2015) 118, 121.

Bibliography and further reading[edit | edit source]