BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SERIOUS INTERNATIONAL CRIMES: LEGAL AND POLICY APPROACHES

Abstract

Doctrinal contributions on international law and politics broadly build upon the merits of international criminal justice. This applies especially to the prosecution of international crimes before national courts, which assumes the predominant importance given the limited ambit of jurisdiction of international criminal jurisdiction. A number of doctrinal contributions develop the policy view of these processes, which does not always overlap with the requirements under the international legal standards on this subject-matter. This contribution assesses the general merit of policy approaches, and their relevance in terms of more specific issues, such as universal jurisdiction, amnesties for perpetrators of international crimes, and immunity of state officials. Having analysed the pertinent evidence, this contribution concludes that the policy argument possesses no independent relevance in the legal discourse on international criminal justice, and should not be used in a way that contradicts the international legal argument.