International Crimes

Abstract

The ongoing events in the world, especially the conflict situation between Ukraine and Russia raises the risks of occurring international crimes that result in the severe violations of basic human rights and freedoms. Nevertheless, the paper will not focus on the Russo-Ukrainian conflict as the process of inquiry based on clear evidence is still ongoing. Therefore, it is not appropriate to legally assess the situation in Ukraine. This paper will analyze the offenses criminalized by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – the definitions on one hand and the case law of the International Criminal Court and the international tribunals on the other. Moreover, the paper will cover the military aggression undertaken during the August war of 2008 in Georgia through the international law prism and examine if Russia had a right to use military forces. Furthermore, the paper will inspect how the international crimes committed during the August war are similar to the ones that Russia is currently committing in Ukraine. The paper will also study a model case that clearly indicates that international criminal law is unable to face the global challenges today.