The concept of state criminal responsibility

Abstract

The cross-section of authorities on the subject of international law that have analysed, hypothesised and dissected the notion of State criminal responsibility have not succeeded in bringing into the ambit of treaty law the idea that a State may be responsible for the so-called "international crimes" it may commit. The doctrine is plagued by many problems of an ethical, practical or legal nature so that despite arduous efforts to codify it, it has remained a concept as complicated as ever, calling into question its capacity and necessity to be codified. Draft Article 19 was the most valiant attempt at placing the doctrine on the statute books. Its deletion in November 2001 has rekindled the need to establish what State criminal responsibility is and where it is heading. This thesis hopes to outline the problems that have stalled the codification of the doctrine, leaving it as a grey area on paper but raising hopes of a possible bright future for its development through State practice and through recent advances in international law.