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- Kellan Grant: The ICC and Command Responsibility After the Bemba Decision I. Introduction The doctrine of Command Responsibility seeks to hold commanders responsible for the failure to uphold the burden they assume upon accepting a position of authority. With origins tracing centuries back, this legal principle is a fundamental component of international criminal law. In the past century, command responsibility... (more)
- Elena Li: Alternative Reality: No Causation Requirement in Article 28 of the Rome Statute I. Introduction This comment discusses the relatively novel question of whether causation is required as an element for command responsibility in the meaning of Article 28 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).1 This comment first explores the concept of command responsibility in... (more)
- Monal Gera: Defining Necessary and Reasonable Measures in Command Responsibility I. Introduction On March 21, 2016, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was convicted by the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court on two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.1 The case was considered a landmark one for multiple reasons including the fact that this was the first case where the ICC... (more)
- debrabander: Analysis of the Standard of Proof Used by the Appeals Chamber in Bemba I. Introduction This comment examines the standard of proof used by the majority decision of the Appeals Chamber in Bemba in their recent decision to overturn the Trial Chamber III’s “Judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute.” The judges in the majority upended previous legal... (more)
- mialattanzi: How will Bemba’s acquittal impact standards of adequate notice for charges brought against the accused in the Pre-Trial and Trial Chambers? I. Introduction The International Criminal Court (ICC) is uniquely positioned as both a court of international justice and individual criminal responsibility. Along with the ICC’s mission to pursue the “most serious crimes of concern to the international community... (more)
- ericsezgen: I. Introduction The International Criminal Court (ICC) overturned the decision by the Trial Chamber in the case against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. The decision itself has evoked criticism. The ICC acquitted a head of state and an accused war criminal by a narrow majority decision.1 One question that naturally arises from a split decision that creates controversy is what the implications of such a decision means for the... (more)
- Chayadembitzer: The Bemba Decision and its Impact on the Command Responsibility Doctrine In 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a decision that arguably “transformed [the doctrine of] command responsibility into an admonition with little effect.”1 The command responsibility doctrine holds superior officers responsible for the orders they give to subordinates. Under that doctrine, commanders can be held responsible for issuing... (more)
- nadadur2020: After the Bemba Appeals Chamber Decision, Will it be Harder to Secure Convictions for Command Responsibility in SGBV Crimes? I. Introduction In March 2016, former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was found guilty by the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Trial Chamber of command responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including rape.... (more)
- FT2019: The Appeals Chamber of the ICC: How a new Standard of Appellate Review and Onerous Standard of Proof will Impact Future Prosecutions of SGBV Crimes I. Introduction In many ways, the advent of the Rome Statute and the creation of the ICC served as a beacon of hope to victims of SGBV crimes, advocates for justice, and legal scholars. Never before... (more)
- daley2019: The Blueprint for Immunity: The Appeals Chamber’s Interpretation of Article 28(a)(ii) of the Rome Statute I. Introduction In 2016, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, a politician-warlord from the Democratic of Congo. Two years after that conviction and ten years after the beginning of proceedings, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court overturned... (more)
- ahoskins: After Bemba: Article 28 of the Rome Statute and the Requirement of Causation I. Introduction On June 6, 2018, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) overturned the conviction of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo on the charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in a split decision. This sent shock waves through the international criminal justice community and has raised a whole host of... (more)
- DCG: Seeking Clarity: Assessing Questions of Remoteness Post Bemba I. Introduction In what seemed like a landmark victory, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (Bemba) of murder, rape, and pillaging as war crimes and murder and rape as crimes against humanity in 2016.1 Bemba was the Congolese vice president and commander of the Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo (MLC).... (more)
- Belinda Hyland: The Impact of the Bemba Appellate Judgment on Future Prosecution of Crimes of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence at the ICC I. Summary March 2016 marked a monumental triumph for victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). On March 21, 2016, the Trial Chamber of the ICC issued a decision convicting Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo under Article 28(a) of the Rome Statute for the... (more)
- f.petkovich: The ICC Appeals Chamber’s Bemba Judgment—A Necessary Contextualization of Article 28’s Actus Reus Element Introduction Designed to ensure compliance with international law, the legal doctrine of command responsibility holds military commanders responsible for any war crimes committed by their subordinates in combat zones.1 With the codification of command responsibility... (more)
Comment on the Responsibility Question: “What does the Bemba Appeal Judgment say about superior responsibility under Article 28 of the Rome Statute?”
The right to refuse any command or order has been well established since the times of the Roman act none statute. Furthermore, even if the right to kill does exist, that right is limited to self defense. If the premise of the order or command given is to kill, without self defense, the order fails. None the less the nature of war also provides, the people that have taken the order to be a need at face, cannot be used in that context, to deny the commander to be accused. Circumstances do exist in the establishment where to deny the order would create a death sentence by doing that, in that sense following the order is self defense. In any event that self defense that maybe exists, is not for the commander to wield as his, it in itself is the prosecution’s failure to provide evidence at trial that diminishes the defense.