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State Liability for Violations of International Humanitarian Law - The Distomo Case Before the German Federal Constitutional Court

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Markus Rau

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For quite some time the question of how to cope with violations of international humanitarian law was primarily one of individual criminal responsibility. However, over the last few years, the position of the victims of armed conflict has increasingly come into focus. In particular, attention has been given to the issue of reparations, including compensation, for breaches of international humanitarian law.

Type
Developments
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 7 , 01 July 2006 , pp. 701 - 720
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

1 See, e.g., Ambos, Kai, Zur Bestrafung von Verbrechen im internationalen., nicht-internationalen und internen Konflikt, in Humanitäres Völkerrecht: Politische, Rechtliche und Strafgerichtliche Dimensionen 325 (Jana Hasse, Erwin Müller and Patricia Schneider eds., 2001); Bassiouni, M. Cherif, Accountability for Violations of International Humanitarian Law and Other Serious Violations of Human Rights, 2001 The Global Community (Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence) 3 (2001); Elies van Sliedregt, The Criminal Responsibility of Individuals for Violations of International Humanitarian Law (2003).Google Scholar

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13 Article 14 of the Basic Law states: “(1) Property and the right of inheritance shall be guaranteed. Their content and limits shall be defined by the laws. (2) Property entails obligations. Its use shall also serve the public good. (3) Expropriation shall only be permissible for the public good. It may only be ordered by or pursuant to a law that determines the nature and extent of compensation. Such compensation shall be determined by establishing an equitable balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected. In case of dispute respecting the amount of compensation, recourse may be had to the ordinary courts.”Google Scholar

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16 Article 100 para. 2 of the Basic Law states: “If, in the course of litigation, doubt exists whether a rule of international law is an integral part of federal law and whether it directly creates rights and duties for the individual (Article 25), the court shall obtain a decision from the Federal Constitutional Court.”Google Scholar

17 Article 101 para. 1 of the Basic Law states: “Extraordinary courts shall not be allowed. No one may be removed from the jurisdiction of his lawful judge.”Google Scholar

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33 See, e.g., Handel v. Artukovic, 601 F. Supp. 1421, at 1425 (C.D.Cal. 1985); Goldstar (Panama) S.A. v. United States, 967 F.2d 965, at 968-969 (4th Cir. 1992); Princz v. Federal Republic of Germany, 26 F.3d 1166, at 1175 (D.C.Cir. 1994).Google Scholar

34 Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court), 2 BvR 1476/03, para. 21 (February 15, 2006), http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/entscheidungen/rk20060215_2bvr147603.html.Google Scholar

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