Crime of Aggression
World War I broke out between 1914 and 1918, and which led to the killing and displacing of millions. After the First World War, practical measures were taken to prosecute those accused of war crimes under the provisions of Articles 227 and 228 of the Treaty of Versailles. In the same vein, efforts have been made by the Commission on Determination and Execution of Punishments since 1919. This is because some governments have insisted that those accused of waging wars of aggression, violating treaties and moral sanctity be brought to justice. However, due to political considerations and the lack of cooperation of some governments, and legal grounds such as the principle of Nullum crimen sine lege and Nulla poena sine lege led to the release of those accused of acts of aggression, the most important of which was the German Emperor William Caesar II who fled to the Netherlands and took refuge there. World War I was an event that accelerated efforts to prevent war. Millions of Combatant and civilians were killed in the fighting. Millions were knocked down by outbreaks of infectious diseases and famine. armed forces of two or more governments engage in reciprocal acts of violence. In war, the nature of the armed conflict is continuous and reciprocal. But in less grave forms of the use of force, the use of force is sporadic, irregular, and in many cases unilateral, and only occasionally finds the character of an armed conflict. Although the war has been used by governments for centuries as a means to an end, because of the sufferings caused by it, humans have always tried to prevent war. Consequently, the governments that used these tools have always been trying to find a justification for their actions. Hence, the concept of just or legitimate war was opposed to unjust or illegitimate war. To prevent the recurrence of these wars and the establishment of a new international system, the creation of a society that could work together to help settle their disputes peacefully was on the agenda of the Paris Conference. To this end, the Paris Conference drafted a Covenant on which the League of Nations was established. According to the Covenant, recourse to war was illegal in four cases: first, when resort to peaceful means of dispute resolution such as arbitration, judicial review, or the Council of the League of Nations had not been made. Second, when less than three months have passed since the date of the arbitral award or judicial authority or the decision of the Council. Third, when war has been waged against the government who has agreed with the arbitral tribunal’s award or the Council’s report, and finally, when war has been waged by non-member states against the member state. The Charter of the League of Nations did not establish a clear link between war and aggression, and its greatest focus was on the war, the provision of mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the imposition of penalties against the government for violating the Covenant. The next step in overcoming the flaws of the Covenant was the conclusion of the General Agreement on the Reduction of War as a tool of national policy on August 27, 1928, known as the Kellogg–Briand Treaty, or the Treaty of Paris and under this treaty, the member states formally declared that they condemned the use of war to resolve international disputes and pledged to resolve their disputes only through peaceful means. After World War II, the victorious governments sought to end impunity in international criminal law by drafting the London Charter and establishing the Nuremberg Military Tribunal and subsequently the Tokyo Charter.
Shahrooz Darbandi and Mehdi zarei.
