ABSTRACT
War is inevitable. There is always a need to balance military necessity with the principle of humanity. This work unravels the problem of prosecution of international humanitarian law crimes at national level. In order to attempt to solve this problem, this research employed the doctrinal approach and some viable findings were made, which include the fact that, state has a functional primary role in the prosecution of international humanitarian law crimes, since this was the intent of the draftmen of the first Geneva Convention. This work has also found out that, the prosecution of war crimes or international humanitarian crimes at the ICC take longer time to be concluded. This can be made easy where national court are used. This is true because, national court do have the necessary mechanism to try humanitarian crime. Therefore, it is crystal clear that some states are unwilling and/or unable to try international humanitarian crimes due to internal politics, pressure, lack of expert, protection of its nationals and national jurisprudence of one state. Thus, this work recommends and advocates for more effective role to be plays by national court in the prosecution of international humanitarian law crimes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract vi
Table of contents vii
List of abbreviations x
List of cases xii
List of treaties xiii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 11
1.3 Research Method 12
1.4 Scope of the Study 13
1.5 Objectives of the Study 13
1.6 Synopsis of Chapters 14
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER THREE: OVERVIEW OF STATE AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
3.1 Implementation and compliance of IHL by state 27
3.2 Domestication and Incorporation of relevant law and Treaties 33
3.3 National Court and Application of IHL 38
3.4 When National Court should Apply IHL 39
3.5 Conclusion 41
CHAPTER FOUR: DOMESTIC PROSECUTION OF IHL AND ITS PROBLEMS
4.1 Accessing ICC Support for Domestic Prosecution of
International Humanitarian Crimes 42
4.2 The Role of National Court in the Prosecution of International
Humanitarian Crimes 44
4.3 Problems That Leads to Lack of Prosecution of International
Humanitarian Crimes 47
4.4 Punishment for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law 51
45 Conclusion 55
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 54
5.2 Conclusion 55
5.3 Recommendations 55
BIBLIOGRAPHY
