war criminal

A war criminal is a person who, in connection with an armed conflict, commits acts that are prohibited under international law and criminalised in national legislation. Under Danish law, the term is not defined as a separate, general legal definition, but is regulated primarily through the Danish Penal Code (straffeloven) § 118 e and the other provisions in the same chapter on war crimes.

Under § 118 e, a person who, in connection with an armed conflict, carries out serious acts against a protected person is liable to punishment. Protected persons typically include civilians, prisoners of war and the wounded, who are afforded special protection under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions. The criminalised acts include killing, torture, inhuman treatment and other grave abuses of protected persons. The provision is broad in scope and thus covers a range of the most serious violations that can be committed during war or armed conflict.

In international armed conflicts, criminal liability extends further to cover acts such as compelled service in hostile forces and the transfer of a state's own civilian population into occupied territory. These particular provisions reflect obligations that Denmark has assumed through international treaties.

War crimes against persons are punishable by imprisonment for up to 16 years, and where the offence is of a particularly grave nature, including where it involves killing, the penalty may rise to imprisonment for life (straffeloven § 118 k).