Authority to Court-Martial Non-U.S. Military Personnel for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed During Internal Armed Conflicts

Abstract

This article analyzes the recent developments in international criminal jurisprudence establishing individual criminal responsibility for violations of the laws of war during non-international armed conflict. The article then analyzes the Uniform Code of Military Justice grants includes within the jurisdiction of the General Court-Martial the power to try any person who is subject trial by a military court for violation of the laws of war. The article demonstrates the distinction between this source of jurisdiction, which is based on violation of international law, and the traditional exercise of military jurisdiction, which is based on violation of the punitive articles of the code itself and restricted to individuals expressly subject to these criminal proscriptions. The article then asserts how the extension of the doctrine of individual criminal responsibility to the realm of non-international armed conflicts, when coupled with this statutory grant of jurisdiction, subjects any person who violates this law to trial by a United States General Court-Martial.

Keywords: Court-Martial, International Law, Humanitarian, Internal Armed Conflicts