War Crimes: A Primer

Abstract

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has given rise to numerous accusations of war crimes. This Legal Sidebar addresses the sources and content of the law of war, also known as the law of armed conflict or international humanitarian law (IHL) as it pertains to war crimes that occur in an international armed conflict. IHL applies to the conduct of war; it does not address the legality of the war itself. For information about potential accountability for war crimes in international tribunals, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10704, The Role of International Tribunals in the Response to the Invasion of Ukraine

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 15, 2022
Accession Number
AD1163642

Entities

People

  • Jennifer K. Elsea

Organizations

  • Congressional Research Service

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Congress
  • Crime
  • Criminals
  • Databases
  • Geneva Conventions
  • Humanities
  • International Law
  • Law
  • Materials
  • Military Operations
  • Personnel Management
  • Prisoners
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Sexual Assault
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Criminal Law
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union