International Criminal Responsibility for Journalism-Related Crimes: Comparative Perspectives on Media Abuses, Disinformation, and Their Global Impacts

Abd El Illah Imed Eddine Belaid

doi:10.70411/MJLS.4.2.2026338

Authors

Abd El Illah Imed Eddine Belaid University of Ain Temouchent , Université de ain Témouchent

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70411/MJLS.4.2.2026338

Keywords:

international criminal legal framework, journalism-related crimes, propaganda, freedom, gaps, responsibility

Abstract

The media has been used as a tool in psychological warfare and political propaganda; however, there is no clear legal framework in international criminal law that defines and criminalizes acts related to the press and media. The purpose of this research is to explore the significant impact of journalism-related crimes and the importance of holding perpetrators criminally responsible. Utilizing the violations committed by the press and comparing them with other violations at the international level, this study will analyze some related issues and their relationship to the Rome Statute. This study emphasizes the significance of international criminal responsibility in deterring press and media crimes. The International Criminal Legal Framework is insufficient to address these problems, as there are no clear texts that directly criminalize these acts or define press crimes. Further studies are necessary on the principle of legality, including foreseeability and precision in the formulation of a crime.

References

Reference List

I. Books

1. Cesare P.R. Romano (ed.), André Nollkaemper (ed.), Jann K. Kleffner (ed.), Internationalized Criminal Courts: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia, 21 October 2004.

2. CONDORELLI (L.), " La Cour pénale internationale : un pas de géant (pourvu qu'i soit accompli...) ", RGDIP, 1999.

3. RUCZ (C.), « O.N.U. et le respect des droits de l’Homme », Juris -classeur de droit international, issue 124, 2000.

II. Journal articles

1. Nisreen Mohammed Damoush, Ahmed Abdel Razzaq Al Taie, Criminal responsibility for disinformation according to international law, Russian Law Journal, Vol. 11 No. 9s, 2023.

2. Sarraj Donia, Individual Criminal Responsibility Under International Criminal Law, journal of law and interscience, Volume 2, Number 2, 2023-09-01.

III. Master’s Thesis

1. BELAID Abd El Illah Imed Eddine, Regulations of Journalistic Work and the Resulting Criminal Liability, Ain Temouchent Belhadj Bouchaib University, Faculty of Law, Master Thesis, 2022-2023.

IV. Official Documents/ Treaties/ Conventions

1. Charter of the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg Tribunal statute), 08 august 1945, 82 U.N.T.S.279.

2. United Nations, (1969), Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Vienna.

3. United nations, Principles of International Law Recognized in the charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the tribunal 1950, Report of International Law Commission.

4. Unites Nation, (1998), Rome Statute of the International Court, Rome.

V. Web sites

1. Canadian Journal of Communication, https://cjc.utppublishing.com/doi/10.22230/cjc.2018v43n4a3209.

2. https://en.zulat.org.il/petition-re-channel-14-crimes-against-humanuty/?utm_source=chatgpt.com, May 14, 2025.

3. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/julius-streicher-biography.

4. https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/ictr/ictr.html.

5. https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2024/06/20/the-importance-of-international-criminal-law-norm-in-fostering-international-cooperation/.

6. https://unictr.irmct.org/en/cases/ictr-99-52.

7. https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2025/9/23.

8. https://www.ictj.org/ar/node/36953?utm_source=chatgpt.com, 28/09/2024.

9. https://www.russianlawjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1647.