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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijlhb.2454.7107.3117.3

Abstract

The idea of criminal responsibility of any person for the commission of any international crime is absolved in self defence. The crime committed by the accused which is grave in nature will not work out as the act was illegal on the face of it which is the violation of the human values. ICC mentioned various defences for excluding the criminal liability like duress, necessity, self-defence, mistake, mental incapacity, intoxication or superior order. Apart from it, there are various case-laws in which courts and tribunals have interpreted the defences in mitigating the sentence. The jurisprudence of criminal law lies on some premises such as ‘a person will be innocent until proved guilty’ and ‘fair trial’ and ‘the court will consider whatever defences put forward by the persons who are being tried’.The researcher (s) intend that ICC have given a new horizon in the development of human rights by discarding the defences in furtherance of commission of serious crimes.

Keywords: Self-Defence; Military Tribunal; Doctrine of Mens Rea; Rome Statute; Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

Corresponding Author : Naresh Kumar Vats Professor of Law, Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur Judicial Officers’ Training Institute (JOTI), C.P. Club Road, Civil LinesNagpur -440001(Maharashtra), India