International criminal prossecution from ad-hoc to permanent criminal jurisdictions

AuthorMihai Floroiu
PositionFaculty of Juridical, Social and Political Sciences/Legal Studies Department, 'Dunarea de Jos' University of Galati, Romania
Pages46-52
AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, www. juridicaljournal.univagora.ro
ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677
No. 4 (2014), pp. 46-52
46
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL PROSSECUTION
FROM AD-HOC TO PERMANENT CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONS
M. Floroiu
Mihai Floroiu
Faculty of Juridical, Social and Political Sciences/Legal Studies Department
“Dunrea de Jos” University of Galai, Romania
*Correspondance: Mihai Floroiu, Faculty of Juridical, Social and Political Sciences, Galai,
Str.Domneasc, nr.111
Email: mihai.floroiu@ugal.ro
Abstract: Crimes against humanity committed by dictators obsessed with power have
been constant throughout history. The front impunity for the most heinous crimes is something
that causes immense social unrest and brings the message that the law does not reach those
who are in power. States, begun st riving to find mechanisms to punish those guilty of crimes
against humanity and establish a permanent international criminal jurisdiction.
Keywords: International Criminal Court, Universal Justice
Introduction - idea of an international criminal justice for crimes against
humanity
The necessity of an international jurisdiction for crimes against humanity has revealed
a serious conflict between Sta tes that do not want assign their national jurisdiction, totally or
at least in part, to the trial of crimes against humanity. The legitimizing basis of a j urisdiction
going across national borders is given in the so-called principle of universal justice, which is
based on the protection of supreme values, such as justice and humanity, regardless the fact
that the commission of an offense has been held outside the sovereign territory of one State.
As international com munity starte d to confuse the responsibilities of States with the
ones of their rulers or citizens in their se rvice, in order to directly reac h individuals, started to
gradually develop the idea that individuals should also be immediate subject of a
“sanctioning” international law, which would not give them rights, but also impose certain
obligations or punish different misbehaviours.
Historical evolution of international criminal jurisdictions
The international community intended to i mpose certain obligations on all individuals,
as well as to punish the guilty ones for committing unlawful acts that were so serious tha t they
hit the core values of the human species. Thus, if individuals could not be legally l iable based
on the general international law, this issue needed to be adressed by the international society
which developed the concepts of International Criminal Law and International Criminal
Jurisdiction.
The idea of international criminal jurisdiction dat es back to 1872 when Gustave
Moynier presented at a Conference of the Red Cross, the first formal proposal directed to the
establishment of a court with jurisdi ction over war crimes, called “Convention on the
Establishment of an International Judicial Board for the P revention and Punishment of
Violations of the Geneva Convention”.
However, it is i n the twentieth century that the most important e vents for the
development of international criminal law took place.
Regarding the historical development of the concept of crimes against humanity a nd
international criminal jurisdiction related to their punishment, the first instrument in which
such references were made, though not explicit, was the Convention on the customs and laws

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