1003672 - SELECTED TOPICS IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW

The course is based on taught lectures; active participation of the students and the discussion of practical cases will be highly encouraged.

Learning assessment takes place through an oral final exam in English.

For formal prerequisites, please check the applicable academic regulation available at http://www.lex.unict.it/it/chi-siamo/regolamenti-didattici-del-corso-di-laurea-magistrale-ciclo-unico-giurisprudenza-lmg01

A) Notion, history and evolution of international criminal law. The contribution of the Nuremberg and Tokyo International Military Tribunals to the development of international criminal law; the ad hoc tribunals; hybrid courts.

B) The International Criminal Court. The Rome Statute. Jurisdiction. Trigger mechanisms. Principle of complementarity. Institutions. Procedures. Sanctions and enforcement. 

C) The general part of international criminal law. Interpretation and fundamental principles. Structure of core international crimes: the material elements; the mental elements; grounds for excluding criminal responsibility. Individual criminal responsibility: perpetration; accessorship. Superior responsibility. Attempt. Omission.

D) Special part of international criminal law: genocide; crimes against humanity; war crimes; aggression.

Per A), B) e D): Helmut Satzger, International and European Criminal Law, Hart/Nomos, 2018, pp. 215-234; 235-261; 293-326 (disponibile presso la biblioteca del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza);

Per C): 

1) Studenti frequentanti: Helmut Satzger, International and European Criminal Law, Hart/Nomos, 2018, pp. 262-292 e materiale fornito dal docente a lezione;

2) Studenti non frequentanti: Otto Triffterer - Kai Ambos (a cura di), Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary, C.H. Beck/Hart/Nomos, III ed., 2016, p. 949-1196 (disponibile presso la biblioteca del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza).

Final oral exam in English.

The exam will be assessed according to the following criteria established by the Board of the Degree Course (September 17, 2018):

• pertinence of the answers;
• quality of the answers and comprehension of the syllabus;
  
• ability to link different topics of the syllabus;
  
• ability to provide examples;
  
• command of technical legal language;
  
• overall communication skills;
  
• familiarity with legal texts.
  

Indirect enforcement of international criminal law; the Nuremberg trials; the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia; the principle of complementarity; structure of international crimes; the contextual element; the mental elements; grounds for excluding criminal responsibility; mistake of fact; perpetration; superior responsibility; genocide.