Who is to be singled out as the principal actor of a crime of aggression ? - From the viewpoint of "Control Theory" used by the International Criminal Court

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K01288
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 05030:International law-related
• Research Institution: Kobe Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Kihara Masaki 神戸学院大学, 法学部, 教授 (90461011)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 侵略犯罪 / 国際刑事裁判所 / 平和に対する罪 / Control Theory / 犯罪共同実体(JCE)

Outline of Final Research Achievements

According to the definition of Crime of Aggression in the Article 8 bis of the ICC Statute, “crime of aggression” means “the planning… of an act of aggression” by a State and the subject of Crime of Aggression is “a person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a state.” The ICC is using the Control Theory rather than the concept of JCE. Hence, I carried out this research to answer the question: can the "Control Theory" delimitate the commission of "Crime of Aggression"?
Specifically, I examined the latest judgements of the ICTY and the ICC using the concept of JCE and the control theory respectively, as well as hosting research meetings attended by Judge Ozaki from the ICC and other researchers, in addition to conducting interviews with experts in Den Hague and Nuremberg.My research will be presented through my single-authored publication, "Punishment of Leaders of International Crimes."

Free Research Field

国際法

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年の武力紛争の特徴の一つとして、傭兵集団や民兵などの不正規兵が戦闘主体となる場合が増えていることが挙げられる。そのため、不正規兵を使って侵略行為が行われた場合の指導者をICCの「侵略犯罪」規定により適切に処罰することの必要性は大きい。
この点、当該処罰範囲が広範または不明確であれば、ICCによる「侵略犯罪」規定に対する信頼とその批准は得られない。そこで、その処罰理論として「コントロール」理論を採用することにより「侵略犯罪」の処罰範囲を適切に限定する可能性と課題を明らかにした本研究の成果には、ICCの「侵略犯罪」規定への信頼とその批准を得るという大きな学術的意義と社会的意義があるといえる。