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Volume I, s.4 General Principles of International Criminal Law, 21 Superior Responsibility

Kai Ambos

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: 02 June 2023

Subject(s):
Customary international law — Codification — Actus reus — Mens rea — War crimes
The concept of command or better superior responsibility1 makes the superior liable for a failure to act to prevent criminal misconduct of his or her subordinates. The superior is punished for a lack of control and supervision of his or her subordinates who commit crimes. Thus, the superior is punished both for his or her own failure to intervene and for the crimes of others. As a result, the concept seems to create, on the one hand, direct liability for the lack of supervision, and, on the other, indirect liability for the criminal acts of others. Finally, as...
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