Addressing violations of international humanitarian law through the international criminal justice system: A criminologist’s contribution

• Date: 04 March 2021
• Published date: 04 March 2021
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v33/i3a8
• Citation: (2020) 33 SACJ 669
• Author: Sungi, P.S.
• Pages: 669-683

Addressing violations of

international humanitarian law

through the international criminal

justice system: A criminologist’s

contribution

SIMEON P SUNGI*

ABSTRACT

The internationa l crimina l justice system has resor ted to crimin al sanctions

as the sole response to intern ational crimi nal offending, including

international huma nitarian law (IH L) violations. While respond ing to

international cr iminal offend ing, the international c riminal j ustice system

has overly relied on utilitar ianist and retr ibutivist assumption s to crimina l

punishment that ass umes the application of crim inal law in enforci ng

compliance to societal norms i n order to deter potential nor m violators and

to induce compliance. Furthe rmore, correcting criminal b ehaviour creates a

sense of accountabilit y and appeases victim s of international hum anitarian

law violations and other inter national crimes. A rguments in suppor t of

this strategy a lso posit that it is impor tant to take these steps b ecause it

brings a sense of respec t to the rule of law or what is popularly k nown

as ghting ‘impunity ’. A reection on the Nuremberg and the Tokyo trials

following World War II seems to have inuenced the crimi nalising of war

crimes and other i nternational cri mes. On the other hand, cr iminologist s

over a century now have been studyi ng causes of crime to in uence

public policy in cri me prevention. It is, therefore, imperative to exam ine

the aetiology of internat ional humanitar ian law violations throug h a

criminological len s to inform intern ational crimi nal justice policy on b est

approaches in responding to inter national crimes in general and war cr imes

in particul ar. The essay examines inter national human itarian violations i n

the Democratic Republic of Congo to nd out whet her the internationa l

crimina l justice system’s response to war cri mes meet the purpor ted stated

goals of the internat ional crimin al justice system. The Lu banga case in

the DRC situation is infor mative since it is the rst convict ion before the

International Cr iminal Cour t.

The function of the international criminal justice system (ICJS) is

reected through international criminal courts and tribunals that

* PhD, MA, LL M, LLB (Hons). Associate Profes sor Crimin al Justice and Chai r of

the Departm ent of Sociology and Cr iminal Just ice – United States Inte rnational

University-Af rica, Nairobi, Kenya. The author is also an Ad vocate of the H igh Court

of Kenya and the High Cour t of Tanzani a.

669

https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v33/i3a8

(2020) 33 SACJ 669

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