Dr Paul Behrens publishes article on the Ongwen Case

Dr Paul Behrens of the Edinburgh Law School has published an article in last Friday's Scotsman newspaper, entitled 'International Criminal Court case against former Lord's Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen raises serious questions about child soldiers'. The article deals with the case of Dominic Ongwen, a former commander in an extremist militia group in Uganda. In 2021, Ongwen had been found guilty by the International Criminal Court of more than 60 crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, sexual slavery and the conscription of child soldiers. Ongwen appealed, and the Appeals Chamber held hearings in that case last month, during which Dr Behrens was invited to provide expert opinion as an amicus curiae on a range of issues. The questions before the Appeals Chamber concerned matters of duress, mental disease or defect and standard and burden of proof for defences, but also the possibility of cumulative convictions.

Dr Behrens said: 'The decision of the Appeals Chamber in Ongwen will set the future direction in important fields of international criminal law. The case is particularly poignant because Ongwen himself is a former child soldier. But he rose through the ranks and was, in the end, found guilty of the commission of a large number of international crimes. The issues which result from that are of great legal significance, but they also invite the question at what stage personal responsibility for one's own action begins.'