Editing Nuremberg principles (section)

=== The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ===

Concerning Nuremberg Principle IV, and its reference to an individual's responsibility, it could be argued that a version of the [[Superior Orders]] defense can be found as a defense to international crimes in the [[Rome Statute]] of the [[International Criminal Court]]. (The Rome Statute was agreed upon in 1998 as the foundational document of the International Criminal Court, established to try those individuals accused of serious international crimes.)  Article 33, titled "Superior Orders and prescription of law,"<ref>{{cite web|url= http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm|title= Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; Part 3: General Principles of Criminal Law; Article 33: Superior orders and prescription of law|author= Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|orig-date= 10 November 1998 |date=16 January 2002 |publisher= Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court|access-date= 21 March 2010|archive-date= 19 October 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222329/http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm|url-status= live}}</ref>
states:

{{blockquote|1. The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:

*(a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the superior in question;
*(b) The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and
*(c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.}}

<blockquote>2. For the purposes of this article, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.</blockquote>

There are two interpretations of this Article:

*This formulation, especially (1)(a), whilst effectively prohibiting the use of the Nuremberg Defense in relation to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, does however, appear to allow the Nuremberg Defense to be used as a protection against charges of war crimes, provided the relevant criteria are met.
*Nevertheless, this interpretation of ICC Article 33 is open to debate: For example, Article 33 (1)(c) protects the defendant only if "the order was not manifestly unlawful." The "order" could be considered "unlawful" if we consider [[Nuremberg Principles#Principle IV|Nuremberg Principle IV]] to be the applicable "law"  in this case.  If so, then the defendant is not protected.  Discussion as to whether or not Nuremberg Principle IV is the applicable law in this case is found in [[Nuremberg Principles#The Principles.27 power or lack of power|a discussion of the Nuremberg Principles' power or lack of power]].

{{See also|States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court}}