Criminal Responsibility for War Crimes: An Explanation from Geneva Conventions, Rome Statute and Judicial Pronouncements of the International Criminal Court.

The article focuses on criminal responsibility for war crimes as established under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), particularly through the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and related judicial pronouncements. It categorizes criminal responsibility into State responsibility, Individual responsibility, and Command responsibility, highlighting the ICC's distinctive approach to individual culpability based on modes of participation. The Rome Statute provides the most comprehensive codification of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression, though it has limitations regarding certain prohibited weapons and jurisdictional issues. The article underscores the evolution from ad hoc tribunals like Nuremberg and Tokyo to the ICC, emphasizing that both states and individuals, including military commanders, can be held accountable for grave breaches of IHL to deter impunity in armed conflicts.