Ch.IV The Crime of Aggression

Subject(s):

Violations of the laws or customs of war

This chapter discusses the crime of aggression that was prosecuted for the first time under the title of crime against peace by the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals. The crime of aggression was then defined as planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances. In the Nuremberg Trials, to initiate a war of aggression was considered to be the supreme international crime, while before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) aggression belonged to the major war crimes. The chapter mentions the UN General Assembly (GA) that adopted a groundbreaking definition of an act of aggression in Resolution 3314 (XXIX), which served as the basis for all subsequent discussion leading up to the Kampala compromise as adopted by Art. 8bis ICC Statute. This new crime of aggression and its complicated jurisdictional provisions will be discussed in detail.