THE GENOCIDE AND THE COMMAND RESPOSIBILITY IN CRIMINAL LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

International criminal law, as a system of legal regulations embodied in the acts of international community and criminal legislations of individual states, establishes criminal liability and punishment for crimes against international law. These acts constitute breaches of the laws and customs of war (international humanitarian law) that violate or threaten peace among nations and the security of mankind. Penalties prescribed for these criminal offences are the most severe penalties in contemporary criminal legislation. In some cases, the international judicial (supranational) institutions such as the Nurnberg and the Tokyo Tribunal, the Hague Tribunal, the International Criminal Court (etc.) have primary jurisdiction over perpetrators of these criminal offences. The criminal act of genocide is defined as the killing of a nation or a tribe.  In the UN General Assembly Resolution 96/I of 11^th December 1946, genocide was proclaimed as “a crime under international law, which is in contradiction with the spirit and the aims of the OUN and condemned by the entire civilized world”. Although it emerged as a “subspecies of crime against humanity”, genocide rapidly obtained an autonomous status and contents as one of the most serious crimes of today. As a crime against international law, genocide is established on the basis of three elements: a) the objective component - аctus reus; b) the subjective component - mеns rea; c) the object of the act - the group (the victim). The source of this incrimination is found in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide which, in Article 2, defines the notion and the elements of this crime against international law. In legislation, theory and practice, this term can be interpreted in a broader sense as well. In this paper, the author analyses the theoretical and practical aspects of genocide in international criminal law and criminal law of the Republic of Serbia (including former FR Yugoslavia).

Key words: international law, humanity, crime, genocide, court, command responsibility, penalty.