This information kit deals with the following issues: obligations in terms of penal repression; method of incorporating punishment into criminal law; universal jurisdiction over war crimes; time-barring; command responsibility and failure to act; criminal procedure; cooperation with extradition and judicial assistance in criminal matters.

This document contains a summary of the most important issues of constitutionality raised by different national judicial and quasi-judicial bodies with regard to the ratification of the Statute for the International Criminal Court of 1998.

Fact sheet describing some elements and modalities which could bring about a concrete improvement in the effectiveness of sanctions in the efforts by all parties to ensure greater respect for international humanitarian law.

The present comparativetable seeks to provide the war crimes over which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction, together with the definition of such offences as found in other sources of international humanitarian law (IHL).

Fact sheet describing the obligations of States regarding the national implementation of the norms applicable to this particular aspect of international humanitarian law.

Fact sheet providing a summary description of various international criminal tribunals and of the relations these tribunals have with States and the ICRC.

The ICRC guide Punishing violations of IHL at the national level is intended as a practical reference work for lawmakers and others in common law States who are directly involved in incorporating provisions for the punishment of violations of international humanitarian law into national legal systems. It consists of nine stand-alone chapters on issues relevant to the prosecution of grave breaches and other violations of humanitarian law, and international crimes such as genocide, torture and crimes against humanity.

The author critically analyses in this article the status of incitement in international criminal law and recommends the adoption of an approach modelled on German and Swiss domestic law and argues that instigation per se should also be regarded as an inchoate crime.

Theme: Truth and reconciliation commissions. Penal prosecution was seen as antagonistic to reconciliation strategies, but the “justice versus peace” problem is now seen as a simplification of the debate. Reconciliation is increasingly understood as an umbrella-term for an overall process which includes the search for truth, justice and forgiveness. This issue concentrates on the problems raised by Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and provides an overview of the ones established, their successes and their failures.

The article analyses problems with which the Republic of Croatia, as a country in transition, has to contend during war crimes proceedings.

In armed conflicts where serious violations of international humanitarian law have occurred on a massive scale, there is often a need to balance the right of victims to retributive justice with the need of the territorial State to deal with past atrocities in such as manner as to not provoke further violence and to advance the process of reconciliation. This article argues that international law does not preclude domestic and international courts according recognition to certain amnesties limited to those considered "least responsible" for the commission of war crimes, when accompanied by other accountability measures and with the objective of facilitating the progression towards a lasting peace.

Workshop 7, 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 2 to 6 December 2003

Using the Geneva Conventions Acts adopted by different States, and following discussions held with common law experts, the ICRC Advisory Service on IHL has drawn up this model Geneva Conventions Act. This Model Act gives effect to the provisions of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and to their two Additional Protocols of 1977.

This book contains the proceedings of a meeting of experts held by the ICRC on the implementation, in civil law States, of national mechanisms for repressing violations of international humanitarian law. Case studies are included to give an overview of the existing repression mechanisms in four countries.