Font Size: a A A

The Conviction Research Of Forced Marriage In The International Criminal Trial

Posted on:2015-03-21Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y HuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2296330461959973Subject:Law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
There were many crime of forced marriage in Massacres in Rwanda, Sierra Leone civil war and the Khmer Rouge reign in Cambodia. A huge number of women have been forced away from the original residence, compelled marriage with the rebel soldiers and fulfilled the obligations of marriage. Forced marriages not only undermine the normal social order, but also make the victims suffer long-term physical and psychological harm. According to Article VII of "Statute of International Criminal Court", if an act is considered a crime against humanity as other inhumane act, then it cannot be another specific crime against humanity as listed, and this behavior must achieve the severity as other crime against humanity do. Although the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone agree forced marriages constitute crime against humanity as other inhumane acts, but it is still controversial in the international criminal law. At present, there are three different views:firstly, forced marriage can not constitute a crime against humanity. Secondly, forced marriages can be covered by the sexual slavery without special conviction. The last one is that the forced marriage is different from sexual slavery and constitutes crime against humanity as other inhumane acts. In this article I agree with the latter view. The purpose of writing this article is to provide theoretical basis for the judgment.There are four parts in this article. The first part describes controversial judgment on forced marriages of the Sierra Leone Special Court to introduce the topic of this article:whether the forced marriages are crime against humanity as other inhumane acts? The second part conducts a detailed inquiry about the nature of forced marriages and the practice of international judicial. The nature forced marriages is depriving women of marriage autonomy through violent means and inflicting serious physical and psychological harm. Forced marriages and arranged marriages are different. In forced marriages, so-called "wife" is forced to engage in labor, to care for "husband, to meet their needs, and to remain loyal, and to parent. The appellation of "Wife" will bring about serious psychological harm. It will endanger the victim’s reputation, and lead to conflict from family and community. In an arranged marriage, the marriage does not force women to engage in housework or lead to bad reputation. Forced marriages and Sexual slavery is also different. Even if forced marriages often include sexual behavior, it has its own unique characteristics and meets the elements of inhuman behaviors. Forced marriage is not belonging to sexual slavery because sexual slavery does not need the victim to be the wife of the offender. In addition, victims of sexual violence do not need to assume all obligations related to marriage. In the International Criminal Court of Rwanda, there are no allegations of forced marriages because these crimes are classified as sexual slavery. But in the Special Court of Cambodia, the prosecutor has forced marriages allegations alone, but now this has not been a court trial. The third part is the core of this paper. It is demonstrated that forced marriages are crime against humanity as other inhumane acts. The proof starts with the elaborate history of crime against humanity and the constituent elements. Then, elements of forced marriages are proofed to meet the general demonstration of crime against humanity and other inhumane acts. Finally, considering forced marriages constitutes to be crime against humanity as other inhumane acts are not in violation of the principle of legality from the negative discourse. The fourth part is the remainder of this article. The main contribution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone is to criminalize forced marriages. Then the further dictation is made upon the international judicial practice.It is of great significance for the development of international criminal law and international human rights law that Sierra Leone Court of Appeal recognized forced marriages to be crime against humanity as other inhumane acts. It provides reference to international criminal court for future action on forced marriages.
Keywords/Search Tags:Forced Marriage, crime against humanity, Sierra Leone Special Court, other inhumane acts
PDF Full Text Request
Related items