Description
This paper is particularly concerned about the specific agreement between Libya and Italy with the support of the EU, in which Libyan authorities are asked to stop boats on the sea and return migrants to detention centers in Libya for migration control. Several fact-finding missions have reported that there are serious violations and abuses going on in detention centers in Libya. This situation has already reached to the attention of the ICC. The legal opinions sent to the court advocates for the individual criminal responsibility of those who entered into this migration deal with Libyan authorities and eventually caused the harm of thousands of people in detention facilities in Libya. This paper seeks an answer to the question of whether the individual liability link can be established in this situation from the criminal legal theory perspective by considering the relevant international criminal law doctrines. It argues that migration deals breach international norms and violates international human rights. However, forming a criminal liability of the Italian and the EU politicians cannot be justified in international criminal law.
To demonstrate the violation of international human rights law, the paper will rely on several fact-finding reports of established NGOs. To demonstrate the argument that there cannot be a criminal liability link formed in between the crime committed in Libya and the EU and Italian politicians, the paper will specifically focus on the aiding and abetting mode of liability. It analyses the causality principle for the actus reus and the lack of evidence to support the mens rea of aiding and abetting that the logistic, technique and financial support from the EU and Italy is made for the purpose of the commission of these crimes by Libyan authorities. The paper argues for a restricted approach in international criminal liability while highlighting the urgent need to strengthen the sanction against international human rights violations.
