Table of contents:
Element:
According to the Blaškić Trial Judgment:
"This offence appears in Article 3(1)(a) common to the Geneva Conventions. It is a broad offence which, at first glance, encompasses murder, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture and which is accordingly defined by the cumulation of the elements of these specific offences. The offence is to be linked to those of Article 2(a) (wilful killing), Article 2(b) (inhuman treatment) and Article 2(c) (causing serious injury to body) of the Statute. The Defence contended that the specific intent to commit violence to life and person must be demonstrated. The Trial Chamber considers that the mens rea is characterised once it has been established that the accused intended to commit violence to the life or person of the victims deliberately or through recklessness." "[1]
Footnotes:
[1] ICTY, Blaškić Trial Judgment, 15 July 1999, para. 182.
