Blending International and Domestic law: Attributing Command Responsibility for Transnational Organized Crime

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Transnational Organized Crime; Command Responsibility; International Criminal Law

Abstract

There is a growing trend of organized criminals crossing borders illegally and seeking safe haven in third countries. Gang leaders, including those involved in drug and arms trafficking, plan, oversee, and execute criminal activities from abroad through their subordinates in their countries of nationality. In the international criminal law, particularly as defined in the Rome Statute (1998), command responsibility applies only to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed by military commanders or other superiors through their subordinates. Given that the Global Organized Crime Index (2023) demonstrates an increasing rate of criminality worldwide, attributing command responsibility to organized criminal leaders who direct and control the criminal activities of their subordinates becomes crucial. The study aims to examine the principle of command responsibility under international law, compare the approaches of various states in prosecuting leaders of organized crime, and assess the effectiveness of integrating international and domestic legal frameworks. To achieve these objectives, the study employs doctrinal and comparative legal analysis, with reference to the Rome Statute, international criminal case law, and legal mechanisms adopted by states. The study recommends introducing command responsibility through domestic anti-organized crime legislation and establishing domestic jurisdiction to prosecute organized criminal leaders. Unless organized criminal leaders are held accountable under command responsibility, modeled on international criminal law, organized crimes are likely to continue even after the apprehension of subordinates, due to the extensive networks these leaders have established.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - D. Sathya Bulathwela
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/30
TI  - Blending International and Domestic law: Attributing Command Responsibility for Transnational Organized Crime
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Challenges and Trends in Arts and Social Sciences (ICCTASS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 135
EP  - 143
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_11
ID  - Bulathwela2026
ER  -