Rome Statute
Part 3: General Principles of Criminal Law
Article
Art.
28
Responsibility of commanders and other superiors
1.
A military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by forces under his or her effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such forces, where:(a)
That military commander or person either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the forces were committing or about to commit such crimes; and(b)
That military commander or person failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.2.
With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in paragraph (a), a superior shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by subordinates under his or her effective authority and control, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such subordinates, where:(a)
The superior either knew, or consciously disregarded information which clearly indicated, that the subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes;(b)
The crimes concerned activities that were within the effective responsibility and control of the superior; and(c)
The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
Source:
Article 28 — Responsibility of commanders and other superiors, https://www.icc-cpi.int/Publications/Rome-Statute.pdf (accessed May 26, 2025).