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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
"First, Do No Harm:" Interpreting The Crime Of Aggression To Exclude Humanitarian Intervention, Joshua L. Root
"First, Do No Harm:" Interpreting The Crime Of Aggression To Exclude Humanitarian Intervention, Joshua L. Root
Joshua L. Root
The yet to be implemented Article 8 bis of the Rome Statute criminalizes, as the crime of aggression, acts of aggression which by their “character, gravity and scale” constitute a “manifest violation” of the Charter of the United Nations. This article argues that Article 8 bis must be construed so as to exclude from the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction uses of force which are facial violations of the UN Charter but which nonetheless comport with the principles and purposes of the Charter, such as bona fide humanitarian intervention unauthorized by the Security Council. This article applies the Vienna Convention on …