The Standard of Proof Required for Invoking the Obligations to Prosecute and Punish Genocide before the International Court of Justice: An Analysis

Details

Supervisors

Prof. Pierre d'Argent

Faculty

Faculté de droit et de criminologie

Degree label

Master de spécialisation en droit international

Abstract

Though the Genocide Convention contains the obligations to prosecute and punish genocide, their exact nature and scope is yet to be clarified in full. On the other hand, the ICJ has slightly touched the obligations to prosecute and punish genocide in two cases. But it did not clarify the nature of the standards of proof required for invoking the State responsibility. In this background, this research will centre on three inquiries: (i) the nature and contents of the obligations to prosecute and punish genocide under the context of the Genocide Convention, (ii) the different standards of proof required for establishing the obligations to prosecute and punish crimes including the crime of genocide before national and international courts and tribunals, and (iii) theoretical framework to determine the appropriate standard of proof for the purpose of the ICJ and how does it apply in relation to the obligations to prosecute and punish genocide? In doing so, this research will first set the background and the scope of the thesis. Then, it will explore the nature and content of the obligations to prosecute and punish genocide under the Genocide Convention. The third Chapter will elaborate the standards of proof required for dealing with the crime of gen at different national and international courts and at different stage of proceedings. The fourth Chapter will first try to formulate the standard of proof for the ICJ and to determine the standards of proof required for invoking the obligations to prosecute and punish genocide by applying this formulation. Particularly, this thesis concludes that the “substantial grounds to believe” standard of the ICC and the “clear and convincing evidence” standard of the US legal system corresponds to the “fully convinced” standard used by the ICJ.