CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

peter klanduch

CYIL 12 (2021)

TOWARD STRENGTHENING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT 1 Peter Klanduch Abstract: Armed conflicts have devastating effects on the lives of millions of children around the world. The article examines this problem through the lens of the UN concept of the “six grave violations” against the applicable rules of three most relevant legal regimes, i.e., international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law. The author identifies the key issues of the scope and normative support for child protection. The primary focus is placed on individual accountability for crimes that specifically target or disproportionately affect children. The author describes a distinct category of international crimes which he refers to as “crimes against children.” He complements the theoretical discourse with a brief overview of the most relevant cases concerning conflict-linked child-related crimes in the judicial work of the International Criminal Court. Resumé: Ozbrojené konflikty majú neznesiteľne zničujúce účinky na životy miliónov detí na celom svete. Článok sa zaoberá týmto problémom optikou individuálnej zodpovednosti za zločiny, ktoré sú zacielené na deti alebo deti neprimerane postihujú. Autor ponúka svoje chápanie osobitnej kategórie medzinárodných zločinov, ktoré označuje ako „zločiny proti deťom“. Skúma príslušnú judikatúru Medzinárodného trestného súdu a prácu OSN, najmä Bezpečnostnej rady. Hoci potvrdzuje existujúce výzvy, argumentuje, že stále existuje značný priestor pre lepšiu spoluprácu medzi týmito inštitúciami, ktoré by mali nájsť konštruktívny spôsob, ako pracovať na posilnení zodpovednosti za zverstvá páchané na bezmocných ľud- ských bytostiach uväznených v situáciách vojny alebo nestability. Key words : accountability, armed conflict, crimes against children, International Criminal Court, Policy on Children, United Nations, six grave violations About the author: Peter Klanduch graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia where he also received his PhD. in criminal law. He holds LL.M. in International Legal Studies from the New York University School of Law and an M.A. in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Mr. Klanduch served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia in various positions, including as a legal expert at the International Law Department. He spent four years in Doha, Qatar where he worked as the Director for Legal Advocacy at the Education Above All Foundation dealing with international legal aspects of the protection of education in times of insecurity and armed conflict. Currently, he is the Senior Lecturer at the Pan- European University in Bratislava where he teaches the Diplomacy and International Law courses.

1 This is a shorter and updated version of the author’s capstone project submitted as one of the MA program requirements at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 2019. The author wishes to thank Professor Tom Dannenbaum for his invaluable guidance and comments on earlier drafts. Needless to say, that all errors in this article are solely the author’s ones.

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