Crime of aggression

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International Crimes

Crime of aggression 

Jurisdiction  IMT  ICC  STCAU

Legal Definition

Crime of aggression means the planning, preparation, initiation or execution, by a person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations. Act of aggression means the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, such as:

(a) The invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof;

(b) Bombardment by the armed forces of a State against the territory of another State or the use of any weapons by a State against the territory of another State;

(c) The blockade of the ports or coasts of a State by the armed forces of another State;

(d) An attack by the armed forces of a State on the land, sea or air forces, or marine and air fleets of another State;

(e) The use of armed forces of one State which are within the territory of another State with the agreement of the receiving State, in contravention of the conditions provided for in the agreement or any extension of their presence in such territory beyond the termination of the agreement;

(f) The action of a State in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another State, to be used by that other State for perpetrating an act of aggression against a third State;

(g) The sending by or on behalf of a State of armed bands, groups, irregulars or mercenaries, which carry out acts of armed force against another State of such gravity as to amount to the acts listed above, or its substantial involvement therein.

Key Legal Instruments

1945 Charter of the International Military Tribunal (art. 6) 
1974 United Nations General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX)
1998 (last amended 2024) Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (art. 7)
2002 (last amended 2010) Elements of Crimes of the International Criminal Court (art. 7)
2025 Statute of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (art. 2)

Cases

International Military Tribunal (IMT)