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Volume I, s.4 General Principles of International Criminal Law, 19 Nullum Crimen, Nulla Poena Sine Lege in International Criminal Law

Susan Lamb

From: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Edited By: Professor Antonio Cassese, Professor Paola Gaeta, Mr John R.W.D. Jones

From: Oxford Public International Law (http://opil.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 05 October 2023

Subject(s):
Nullum crimen sine lege — Customary international law
The maxims nullum crimen sine lege and its sentencing counterpart nulla poena sine lege prescribe that an individual may be considered criminally responsible only for conduct which was unambiguously criminal at the time of its commission and must be sentenced in accordance with law.1 They are collectively referred to as the principle of legality and represent fundamental principles of criminal justice.2 This principle derives in part from a consciousness of the serious consequences which may flow from the criminal process, and therefore of the need to protect...
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