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VERONIKA BÍLKOVÁ
CYIL 6 ȍ2015Ȏ
of a consequence of an act qualifying as an international crime than a condition for
this qualification.
Another author to give a definition of an international crime is Bassiouni. For
him, there are five criteria applicable to the policy of international criminalization:
the act affects a significant international interest; it constitutes an egregious conduct
deemed offensive to the commonly shared values of the world community; it has
transnational implications; it is harmful to an internationally protected person or
interest; it does not fall under any of the previous categories yet it can best be
suppressed by international criminalization.
48
To these criteria, Bassiouni adds ten
penal characteristics drawn from international conventions that encompass, among
other things, an explicit recognition of a conduct as constituting an international
crime, an implicit recognition of its penal nature, the criminalization of this conduct,
duty to prosecute, duty/right to extradite or no defence of superior orders.
49
Based on
the accumulation of all these elements, Bassiouni lists 28 acts that in his view count
as international crimes.
50
These crimes are further divided into various categories – aggression and other
“classical” international crimes fall under that of
jus cogens
crimes.
51
Bassiouni admits
that
“there is no scholarly consensus on the methods by which to ascertain the existence of a
peremptory norm, nor to assess its significance or determine its content”.
52
Despite that he
believes that
jus cogens
crimes can be distinguished. First, they have to rise
“to a level
above that stemming from specific treaty obligations, so that it can therefore be deemed part
of general international law”.
53
Secondly, they have to threaten the peace and security
of humankind and shock the conscience of humanity.
54
Thirdly, historical evolution
48
BASSIOUNI, M. Ch.: International Crimes,
op. cit.,
p. 133.
49
Ibid.,
pp. 133-134.
50
These are: aggression, mercenarism, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, nuclear terrorist,
theft of nuclear materials, apartheid, slavery and slave-related practices, torture and other forms of
cruel, unhuman or degrading treatment, unlawful human experimentation, piracy, aircraft hijacking
and unlawful acts against international air safety, unlawful acts against the safety of maritime navigation
and the safety of platform on the high seas, threat and use of force against internationally protected
persons, crimes against United Nations and associated personnel, taking of civilian hostages, use of
explosives, unlawful use of the mail, financing of terrorism, unlawful traffic in drugs and related drug
offences, organized crime, destruction and/or theft of national treasures, unlawful acts against certain
internationally protected elements of the environment, international traffic in obscene materials,
falsification and counterfeiting, unlawful interference with submarine cables, and bribery of foreign
public officials.
Ibid.,
pp. 134-135.
51
Other crimes to fall under this category are: piracy, slavery, slave related practices, and trafficking in
human beings, , torture and other forms of cruel, unhuman or degrading treatment, unlawful human
experimentation, apartheid, and mercenarism.
Ibid.,
p. 138.
52
BASSIOUNI, Ch. M.: International Crimes:
Jus Cogens and Obligatio Erga Omnes, Law and Contemporary
Problems,
1996, Vol. 59, p. 67 (63-74).
53
Ibid.,
p. 68.
54
Ibid.,
p. 69.