Joint Criminal Confusion - the rise and fall of the joint enterprise theory in English and international criminal law

In this lecture, Professor Dr Elies Van Sliedregt discusses the effect of the Jogee-ruling on debates on the joint enterprise in international criminal law.

On 18 February 2016 in R v. Jogee the Supreme Court of the UK, in a ground-breaking ruling, reversed previous case law on joint enterprise and redrew the boundaries of murder. Joint enterprise is an important basis for liability in international criminal law. While controversial because of its breath, it has been applied by international criminal courts and tribunals in cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In this lecture, Van Sliedregt discusses the effect of the Jogee-ruling on debates on the joint enterprise in international criminal law. She explores the limits and possibilities of a joint enterprise as a liability theory for finding individuals criminally liable for collective forms of violence.

Professor Dr Elies van Sliedregt joined the School as Professor of International and Comparative Criminal Law in January 2016. Prior to her appointment, she had been Dean of the Faculty of Law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Professor van Sliedregt has published extensively in the field of international and European criminal law. Her research interests lie in comparative research into principles of law, such as the presumption of innocence, the principle of culpability, and dual criminality (in extradition law). In recent research, funded by the Netherlands Research Council, Van Sliedregt looks into the possibility of a (partial) harmonisation of substantive international criminal law.