Unpacking the Complexities of International Criminal Tribunal Jurisdiction

Abstract

This essay discusses the many overlapping and important aspects of the jurisdiction of international criminal courts and tribunals, and particularly their constitutional function in the international legal order. It canvasses the jurisdictional provisions of 8 current and former war crimes tribunals and the permanent International Criminal Court to distill the fundamental jurisdictional provisions of each one as to temporal, geographic, subject matter and personal jurisdiction. The principles of complementarity and primacy are also discussed and evaluated as principles of international criminal law policy and practice.

Keywords: International criminal law, jurisdiction, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ICTY, ICTR, international criminal court, special tribunal for Lebanon, complementarity, primacy, universal jurisdiction