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Full-Text Articles in Law
Animating The U.S. War Crimes Act, Beth Van Schaack
Animating The U.S. War Crimes Act, Beth Van Schaack
International Law Studies
All war crimes are challenging to prosecute. Typical reasons include the technicality of some constitutive elements, the difficulties of amassing sufficient evidence, the vagaries of unreliable or unavailable witnesses, and the often-impenetrable khaki wall of silence. Adding to these challenges, the United States has erected a number of idiosyncratic structural barriers in the way in which it has incorporated the prohibitions against war crimes into its domestic legal frameworks, both military and civilian. This article addresses problems with the U.S. federal war crimes statute and proposes reforms that would (1) better conform to U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions and …
U.S. Recognition Of A Commander’S Duty To Punish War Crimes, Brian Finucane
U.S. Recognition Of A Commander’S Duty To Punish War Crimes, Brian Finucane
International Law Studies
This article explores the United States' recognition of the doctrine of command responsibility. The doctrine has been invoked by those alleging that President Trump’s pardons of U.S. personnel convicted or accused of war crimes could amount to war crimes themselves. The article focuses on a commander’s duty to punish war crimes by his subordinates. It examines the United States’ past recognition of the duty to punish as an element of command responsibility under the law of war. The principle that a commander has an obligation to punish war crimes by his subordinates is not a progressive development of the law …