The Legal Framework for National Jurisdiction in International Crimes During Armed Conflicts

Abstract

The principle of complementarity, or what is known as national jurisdiction, is one of the important principles of international law. According to it, a state can exercise its national jurisdiction over a category of international crimes. National jurisdiction in the trial of international crimes is a fundamental judicial principle of international criminal justice, and the latter complements it. It grants states the ability to try perpetrators of certain serious crimes, even if the state has no connection with the accused or the acts committed by them. A person accused of committing a serious violation of international humanitarian law can be tried before any court in any country. This principle aims to fill the gap in the framework of international law due to the lack of an effective formula for international jurisdiction codified under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

In order for states to exercise their national jurisdiction over a category of international crimes, national jurisdiction over international crimes is considered a fundamental judicial principle of international criminal justice, and the latter complements it. It gives states the possibility of prosecuting perpetrators of certain serious crimes, even if the states have no connection with the accused or the acts committed by them. A person accused of committing a serious violation of international humanitarian law can be tried before any court and in any country. This principle aims to fill the gap in the framework of international law, due to the lack of an effective formula for international jurisdiction codified under the Geneva Conventions of 1949.