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The Milanković Case: Do Convictions Based on Rules of Customary International Law Violate Article 7 of the Convention?

Citeroni, Nicole LU orcid (2022) In Quaderni di SIDI Blog 9. p.387-401
Abstract
In the Milanković judgment, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights was called upon to assess whether the applicant’s criminal convictions based on the doctrine of command responsibility violated the principle of legality laid down in art. 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court answered in the negative, finding itself in line with the jurisprudence of the ad hoc criminal tribunals, which had repeatedly emphasised the customary nature of the doctrine of command responsibility, regardless of both the type of conflict during which the alleged crimes were committed and the military or civilian status of the superior. As a guarantor of fundamental human rights, the Court therefore concluded that criminal... (More)
In the Milanković judgment, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights was called upon to assess whether the applicant’s criminal convictions based on the doctrine of command responsibility violated the principle of legality laid down in art. 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court answered in the negative, finding itself in line with the jurisprudence of the ad hoc criminal tribunals, which had repeatedly emphasised the customary nature of the doctrine of command responsibility, regardless of both the type of conflict during which the alleged crimes were committed and the military or civilian status of the superior. As a guarantor of fundamental human rights, the Court therefore concluded that criminal convictions based on the doctrine of command responsibility, and thus on a rule of customary international law, should not be considered in violation of the principle of legality, provided that this rule was accessible and foreseeable by the accused at the time of the crime, as in the Milanković case. The legal reasoning followed by the Court to reach this conclusion is examined in this article, which also reflects on the Court’s role in harmonising and consolidating principles of international law. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Command responsibility, war crimes, customary international law, principle of legality, foreseeability, accessibility, Mänskliga rättigheter
in
Quaderni di SIDI Blog
volume
9
pages
15 pages
publisher
Editoriale Scientifica
ISSN
2465-0927
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
21b1c0c4-a25c-43ca-803b-c657077fd022
alternative location
https://editorialescientifica.it/prodotto/quaderni-di-sidi-blog-fasc-2021-9/
date added to LUP
2024-06-01 15:41:31
date last changed
2024-06-03 09:18:07
@article{21b1c0c4-a25c-43ca-803b-c657077fd022,
  abstract     = {{In the Milanković judgment, the First Section of the European Court of Human Rights was called upon to assess whether the applicant’s criminal convictions based on the doctrine of command responsibility violated the principle of legality laid down in art. 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court answered in the negative, finding itself in line with the jurisprudence of the ad hoc criminal tribunals, which had repeatedly emphasised the customary nature of the doctrine of command responsibility, regardless of both the type of conflict during which the alleged crimes were committed and the military or civilian status of the superior. As a guarantor of fundamental human rights, the Court therefore concluded that criminal convictions based on the doctrine of command responsibility, and thus on a rule of customary international law, should not be considered in violation of the principle of legality, provided that this rule was accessible and foreseeable by the accused at the time of the crime, as in the Milanković case. The legal reasoning followed by the Court to reach this conclusion is examined in this article, which also reflects on the Court’s role in harmonising and consolidating principles of international law.}},
  author       = {{Citeroni, Nicole}},
  issn         = {{2465-0927}},
  keywords     = {{Command responsibility; war crimes; customary international law; principle of legality; foreseeability; accessibility; Mänskliga rättigheter}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{387--401}},
  publisher    = {{Editoriale Scientifica}},
  series       = {{Quaderni di SIDI Blog}},
  title        = {{The Milanković Case: Do Convictions Based on Rules of Customary International Law Violate Article 7 of the Convention?}},
  url          = {{https://editorialescientifica.it/prodotto/quaderni-di-sidi-blog-fasc-2021-9/}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}