منشاء و ماهيت حقوقي اصل صلاحيت جهاني

The Origin and the Nature of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction

There is an esseutial principle in the international criminal law called the principle of universal criminal Jurisdiction. According to this principle, national courts of states can deal with a crime which has the following characteristics: (a) it may be a crime which has been committed in the territory of a state, (b) it may be a crime regarding which the accused and the victim are not the nationals of a state, (c) it may be a crime which has no relation with the interests of a state. The concept of this principle has been evolved and developed since its creation; as follows: (a) First, states could only deal with the crime of piracy, (b) second, states had an option of dealing with international crimes but today they are obliged to deal with these crimes Although, legal systems have had different perspectives on the meaning and application of this principle, all of these systems have recognised this principle and there are various systems of application of it based on national legislations. Accordingly, domestic (internal) courts exercise their jurisdiction on the basises international customs and treaties and their national laws. This paper attempts to examine the origin and the nature of this principle based on the above - mentioned points.