Substance and Procedure

Abstract

This chapter discusses the procedure for prosecuting international crime. Being guilty of an international crime is one thing; being prosecuted and convicted is quite another. Being guilty in principle requires the following: first, an identification of a norm under which the suspect would be guilty if the norm applied to them; second, the application of the norm to the offender to conclude that the particular person is guilty. Initially, this two-stage procedure might take place in the minds of observers, and then, in the minds of people capable of bringing to bear the procedures of the International Criminal Court (ICC) or other international-national tribunals in order to effectuate a conviction. In either case, the notion of liability or guilt requires reasoning in a syllogism. The major premise is the substantive law, and the minor premise consists of the facts that appear to be provable at trial.