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9 - Defences to Genocide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

William A. Schabas
Affiliation:
Middlesex University, London
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Summary

International criminal law recognizes certain defences, excuses and justifications that may be raised against a charge of genocide. These include mistake of fact, duress and necessity and self-defence. The defences are codified in detailed provisions of the Rome Statute but they are also derived from case law. The Rome Statute declares that an order to commit genocide is ’manifestly unlawful’ and therefore unavaible to an accused person. A defence of ’official capacity’ is explicitly excluded by article IV of the Convention whereby offenders must be punished ’whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals’.

Type
Chapter
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Genocide in International Law
The Crime of Crimes
, pp. 429 - 462
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Defences to Genocide
  • William A. Schabas, Middlesex University, London
  • Book: Genocide in International Law
  • Online publication: 14 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009460774.011
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  • Defences to Genocide
  • William A. Schabas, Middlesex University, London
  • Book: Genocide in International Law
  • Online publication: 14 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009460774.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Defences to Genocide
  • William A. Schabas, Middlesex University, London
  • Book: Genocide in International Law
  • Online publication: 14 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009460774.011
Available formats
×