AFRICAN GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The document examines the legal framework of international criminal law, focusing on the 'core crimes' of the International Criminal Court (ICC): genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It details the three essential components for establishing individual criminal responsibility: the material element (conduct), the mental element (intent/knowledge), and the contextual element (the broader circumstances of mass violence or armed conflict). The text analyzes the Rome Statute, the 'Elements of Crimes' document, and jurisprudence from the ICTY and ICTR to explain how these crimes are distinguished from domestic offences and from each other. It specifically explores the 'special intent' required for genocide, the 'widespread or systematic' nature of crimes against humanity, and the distinction between international and non-international armed conflicts in the context of war crimes.

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) focuses on 'core crimes' defined in the Rome Statute: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. While aggression is within its competence, a definition was still pending at the time of writing; other treaty crimes like terrorism and drug trafficking were excluded due to a lack of consensus on definitions.
• Genocide is characterized by the 'special intent' (dolus specialis) to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. This specific intent distinguishes it from other crimes, such as the crime against humanity of persecution, where the perpetrator may target a group without seeking its destruction.

APA

NAKHJAVANI, S. A. (n.d.). AFRICAN GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AGCHAP3.PDF

Chicago

NAKHJAVANI, SALIM A. AFRICAN GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AGCHAP3.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=NAKHJAVANI |first1=SALIM A |title=AFRICAN GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AGCHAP3.PDF |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nakhjavanindafrican, author = {NAKHJAVANI, SALIM A}, title = {{AFRICAN GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AGCHAP3.PDF}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }