Superior Responsibility in International Criminal Law

Superior responsibility is one of important entities of criminal law. Some people who commit no crime but can conduct preventive and suppressive acts due to their superior position are held responsible according to this entity.International criminal courts have expressed different opinions on implementation of this responsibility which has caused lots of ambiguities. Some of these ambiguities relate to the nature of this responsibility as it is understood as cooperative, assistant or vicarious and some other have described it as distinct. There are some other kinds of ambiguities about identification of criteria for psychological aspect of this responsibility. Some scholars believe that this responsibility has no psychological aspect and consider it as an absolute and material one and some other have explained it as simple or complete negligence. There are also different viewpoints on the person who can be charged as having superior responsibility. Some believe that being an official in military or non-military hierarchy is a necessary condition and sometimes consider effective control essential. This article seeks to identify different aspects this responsibility and clarify existing ambiguities.