EXAMINING THE LEGAL BASIS OF ESTABLISHING MENS REA AS A PRE-CONDITION FOR ATTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITY TO STATES FOR ACTS CONSTITUTING INTERNATIONAL CRIMES

Abstract

The concept of State Responsibility under International Law is to the effect that all states are to be held responsible for any internationally wrongful act attributed to the State. Under the concept of State responsibility, a State cannot abdicate its responsibility on the grounds that the action was the action of an individual. There has been a reluctance to hold states accountable for violations of international law where these violations are considered international crimes. This has been justified on the grounds that states lack the requisite mens rea and so cannot be held liable. This work intends to dispel that notion and show that the doctrine of mens rea applicable to municipal criminal law ought not to be applied to the doctrine of state responsibility under international law.