Völkerstrafgesetzbuch

The "Völkerstrafgesetzbuch" ("VStGB") is the German law that regulates the crimes against public international law. It was created to bring German criminal law into accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It was announced 2002-06-26 and became law 2002-06-30. It covers the following offenses:
*Genocide (§6)
*Crimes against humanity (§7)
*War crimes (§8–12)

None of these are subject to a statute of limitations.

According to §1, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes are subject to universal jurisdiction, thus German courts can punish offenses committed by foreign citizens abroad. However, the prosecution of crimes committed outside German jurisdiction is guided by the principle of subsidiarity, that is, only if prosecution by a court of the country where the crime was committed, or by an international court, is not possible.

ee also

*"Strafgesetzbuch"
*International Criminal Court Act 2001
*Command responsibility

External links

* [http://bundesrecht.juris.de/bundesrecht/vstgb/index.html Full text of the law] (in German)
* [http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]