The Quest for International Criminal Liability with Regard to Corporations
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Faculty of Law Ghent University 2011 – 2012 The Quest for International Criminal Liability with regard to Corporations A Master’s Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in Law By Lynn Verrydt (00705157) Promotor: Prof. Dr. Tom Vander Beken. Commissioner: Prof. Dr. Gert Vermeulen Acknowledgements The author would like to express her sincere gratitude to the following people, without whose kindness, support, advice and/or patience, the process of writing this master’s thesis could not have been completed. First and foremost, my kind-hearted parents, whose limitless love and support I cannot even describe, for not only encouraging me, but most of all for providing me with the oportunity of an education, which I never have and never will take for granted. Secondly, Karel Vincent, who couragesly weathered each moment of despair and whose calming personality I have come to love. Thirdly, I would like to preserve a special thanks for Ilona Truyts, Liesbeth Haak, Charlotte Jacobs and Valerie Demedts, for their kind support, willing suggestions and most of all for their vallued friendships. Furthermore, I wish to express my deep gratitude to Judge Chris Van Den Wyngaert, for providing me with an eyeopening interview, as well as a peek inside the International Criminal Court. And last but not least, particular acknowledgment is due to Prof. Dr. Tom Vander Beken, for his guidance and insight, to soon to be Doctor Wendy De Bondt, whose valuable advise leaves me indebted to her and Prof. Dr. Gert Vermeulen, whose enthusiasm is simply contagious. 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Part I: International criminal liability for corporations: an illustration of its necessity and advantages. ......... 6 Chapter 1: Nullum crimen sine lege: A closer look at the international crimes as defined by the Rome Statute ................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Preliminary considerations in relation to the mental element of international crimes ................... 7 1.3. Crimes against humanity ................................................................................................................................. 7 1.4. War Crimes ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.5. Genocide .......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2. Examples of corporate involvement in international crimes. ........................................................ 17 2.1. German industrialists at the Nuremberg Tribunal: the I.G. Farben-, Krupp- and Flick Trials.17 2.2. Cases under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act .......................................................................................... 18 Chapter 3. Advantages in comparison to the existing regimes .......................................................................... 21 3.1. Advantages of liability of the corporate entity, as opposed to the liability of individual employees and/or management. ........................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Advantages of an international criminal liability regime for corporations as opposed to national criminal liability. ......................................................................................................................................................... 24 3.3. Advantages of criminal liability… ............................................................................................................ 26 Chapter 4: A bump in the road: counterarguments and possible difficulties. ............................................ 27 Chapter 5: Preliminary conclusion. ........................................................................................................................ 29 Part II: An analysis of the concept’s current feasibility ............................................................................................. 30 Chapter 1: Discussions on the Court’s jurisdiction: The Draft Statute and the Rome Conference. ...... 30 Chapter 2: Obstacles identified at the Rome Conference and their current status ....................................... 32 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 32 2.2. Fundamental obstacles ................................................................................................................................ 33 Chapter 3: Preliminary conclusion. ............................................................................................................................ 40 Part III: Attribution models .............................................................................................................................................. 42 Chapter 1: Models of attribution ................................................................................................................................ 42 1.1. The vicarious liability approach. ............................................................................................................... 43 1.2. The aggregation model ................................................................................................................................. 46 1.3. The identification approach. ...................................................................................................................... 49 1.4. Organizational liability: the self-identity model. ................................................................................... 51 2 Chapter 3: Preliminary conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 53 2.1. Legal arguments. ........................................................................................................................................... 53 2.2. Political acceptability: aspiring to a future amendment of the Statute. .......................................... 55 Part IV: Corporate complicity .......................................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 59 Chapter 2: Solicitation and induction. ....................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 3: Aiding and abetting. .................................................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 4. Preliminary conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 62 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................. 63 Annex I: Top 100 economic players 2010 .................................................................................................................... 65 Annex II: An interview with Judge Chris Van Den Wyngaert ................................................................................ 68 Annex III: Nederlandstalige samenvatting ................................................................................................................... 71 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................................................... 72 3 Introduction The first and foremost purpose of the establishment of the International Criminal Court1 was to call a halt to the mounting impunity for international crimes. Although the Court has accomplished remarkable strides in this regard, its Statute currently still does not provide it with adequate jurisdiction to address all perpetrators. Legal persons, more particularly large multinational corporations, wield enormous power. In fact, when comparing the gross domestic products (GDPs) of the most prosperous nations with the revenues of the largest global corporations, one can conclude that in 2010, 40 of the world’s 100 strongest economic forces were corporations.2 As such, WAL-MART ranks higher than, e.g. Denmark or Austria and the revenues of ROYAL DUTCH SHELL exceed the combined GDPs