Abstract:
The world is filled with war crimes committed by children who have been recruited, trained
and used for combat, assigned to support roles such as porters or messengers, used as sex slaves
or recruited for tactical advantage as human shields or for political advantage in propaganda.
The phenomenon of child soldiers has gained increased attention since 2013 for the
condemnation, of Thomas Lubanga for recruiting and using child soldiers. However, not much
has been said about the crimes perpetrated by those children. This mini dissertation looks at
child soldiers as perpetrators of crimes and examines their potential criminal accountability
under international criminal law. The criminal liability of child soldiers under international law
is a complex and evolving area that intersects human rights, humanitarian law, and juvenile
justice. Interpretation of international instruments suggests that child soldiers could be
prosecuted by international criminal tribunals. However, those prosecutions would have to
respect specific standards. Criminal capacity concerns the ability of individuals to understand
the implications of their actions related to the commission of an offence. The consideration of
criminal capacity for children, however, is determined by their age.
