What Should We Do with War Criminals?
Moral & legal reasons for opposing the use of ad hoc international tribunals to try suspected war criminals are questioned. The question of whether war crimes trials would violate the formal & substantive guarantees of legal equality is considered; it is revealed that war crimes trials will demonstrate some selectivity but that such arbitrariness will not exceed that found in municipal courts. It is stated that war crimes trials achieve ethical & legal legitimacy by incapacitating convicted offenders & deterring individuals from committing future war atrocities. Although it is agreed that certain punishments do not completely deter criminals from committing municipal or war crimes, it is maintained that punishment does reduce such individuals' criminal activities. The popular position that war crimes trials should be held in the offenders' home nations is rejected; rather, noting the rise of nonstate jurisdictions, it is claimed that a permanent international court must be established to prosecute suspected war criminals. J. W. Parker