Pregledni rad
Some Psychological and Law Features of the Insanity Defence in War Crimes Trials in Europe
Igor Areh
orcid.org/0000-0001-5410-9907
; Fakultet za sigurnosne znanosti Sveučilišta u Mariboru, Ljubljana, Slovenija
Andrej Sotlar
; Fakultet za sigurnosne znanosti Sveučilišta u Mariboru, Ljubljana, Slovenija
Sabina Zgaga
; Ustavni sud Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, Slovenija
Sažetak
In trials against war criminals, the defendants often plead not guilty by reason of insanity in an effort to avoid assuming responsibility for the charged acts. The paper discusses the history of the insanity defence and some factors that might explain why war crimes are committed. The authors concentrate primarily on the psychological elements of insanity and the reasons for extreme violence appearing at the individual level. Persons charged with war crimes often use post-traumatic stress disorder as the basis for an insanity defence. The authors also consider insanity from the perspective of international criminal law. By explicitly and precisely defining insanity, the Rome Statute moved away from the general provisions employed by the Nuremberg Tribunal, while at the same time making a clear distinction between insanity and incapacity for trial. Insanity may be a complete defence resulting in exclusion of the criminal act and exclusion of the offender’s culpability.
Ključne riječi
war crime; insanity defence; international criminal law
Hrčak ID:
157595
URI
Datum izdavanja:
29.2.2016.
Posjeta: 1.623 *