Yamashita standard
E60838
The Yamashita standard is a doctrine of command responsibility in international law that holds military commanders criminally liable for war crimes committed by their subordinates when they knew or should have known and failed to prevent or punish them.
Statements (43)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
legal doctrine
ⓘ
principle of command responsibility ⓘ |
| aimsTo |
deter war crimes by imposing responsibility on commanders
ⓘ
ensure accountability of military superiors ⓘ |
| appliesInContext |
armed conflict
ⓘ
occupation ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
military commanders
ⓘ
superior officers ⓘ |
| basisFor | assessing liability of commanders for failure to act ⓘ |
| concerns |
command responsibility
ⓘ
criminal liability ⓘ war crimes ⓘ |
| controversy |
criticized for breadth of liability
ⓘ
criticized for due process concerns ⓘ debated regarding standard of proof for knowledge ⓘ |
| coreIdea |
commanders may be held criminally liable for crimes committed by their subordinates
ⓘ
liability arises when commanders fail to prevent or punish subordinates’ crimes ⓘ liability arises when commanders knew or should have known of subordinates’ crimes ⓘ |
| distinguishesFrom | direct perpetration of crimes ⓘ |
| field |
international criminal law
ⓘ
law of armed conflict ⓘ |
| historicalContext | post–World War II war crimes trials ⓘ |
| influenced |
jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals
ⓘ
modern doctrine of superior responsibility ⓘ |
| legalEffect |
does not require direct participation in the crimes
ⓘ
does not require explicit orders to commit crimes ⓘ imposes criminal responsibility on commanders ⓘ |
| legalNature | mode of liability in international criminal law ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Tomoyuki Yamashita NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originatedFromCase |
Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita
ⓘ
surface form:
In re Yamashita
Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita ⓘ |
| originatedFromDecisionBy |
Supreme Court of the United States
ⓘ
surface form:
United States Supreme Court
|
| originatedFromYear | 1946 ⓘ |
| originatedIn | United States military tribunal for General Tomoyuki Yamashita ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
constructive knowledge
ⓘ
duty to prevent and punish ⓘ superior responsibility ⓘ |
| requires |
effective control over subordinates
ⓘ
existence of superior–subordinate relationship ⓘ failure to take necessary and reasonable measures ⓘ knowledge or constructive knowledge of crimes ⓘ |
| standardOfLiability | knew or should have known ⓘ |
| usedIn | subsequent war crimes jurisprudence ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.