Criminalizing Humanitarian Intervention

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, Vol. 41, p. 341, 2009

GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 474

GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 474

33 Pages Posted: 22 Sep 2009

See all articles by Sean D. Murphy

Sean D. Murphy

George Washington University - Law School

Date Written: September 22, 2009

Abstract

The States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will likely vote in 2010 on whether to amend the Rome Statute to allow the ICC to prosecute the crime of aggression. If a robust amendment is widely ratified by states, and if the mechanism for triggering ICC jurisdiction in a particular situation is the ICC itself, then the ICC may emerge as an important voice in the debate over the legality of humanitarian intervention taken without Security Council authorization. Prosecutions, or at least indictments, of leaders of those interventions would considerably strengthen the hand of those who regard such intervention as illegal. Yet an unwillingness on the part of the ICC to indict and prosecute those leaders - an outcome that seems likely for incidents of true humanitarian intervention - may lend considerable credence to the view that such intervention is lawful, as well as define the conditions that characterize such intervention.

Keywords: International Criminal Court, Aggression, Humanitarian Intervention, Rome Statute

JEL Classification: K14, K33

Suggested Citation

Murphy, Sean D., Criminalizing Humanitarian Intervention (September 22, 2009). Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, Vol. 41, p. 341, 2009, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 474, GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 474, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1476939

Sean D. Murphy (Contact Author)

George Washington University - Law School ( email )

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States
202-994-8763 (Phone)
202-994-5654 (Fax)

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