Open Society Foundations (OSF) describes command responsibility as, "legal liability of a commander or civilian superior for crimes committed by subordinate members of armed forces or other persons under their control".
In contrast, three Serbian leaders and two Croatian generals who played crucial roles during the war were acquitted because judges argued that they had not specifically ordered or approved war crimes committed by subordinates.
The verdicts mark the first time the ICC has convicted defendants of rape or command responsibility for the actions of their troops, a legal principle established by other UN tribunals that makes a commander responsible for failing to take action to stop crimes he knows are being committed by subordinates.
State and non-State parties to armed conflicts to ensure that civilian superiors and military commanders use their authority and powers to prevent sexual violence and punish crimes committed by subordinates, failing which they themselves must be punished.
The appeals court said prosecutors had failed to prove a link between him and the crimes committed by his subordinates.
(Under the legal doctrine of "command responsibility," a military commander is responsible for failing to prevent or punish war crimes committed by his subordinates).
If he lives too high on the hog, worry about whether he is paying enough attention to work to catch fraud being committed by his subordinates.
Mr. Kordic, however, was not convicted of "command responsibility" -- that is, he was not held accountable for actions or atrocities committed by military subordinates.
The legal dispute that is the focus of Judge Harhoff's letter and that has led to sharp language in dissents is the degree of responsibility that senior military leaders should bear for war crimes committed by their subordinates.
But the panel appeared less than convinced, saying the United States should "promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate any responsibility of senior military and civilian officials authorizing, acquiescing or consenting, in any way, to acts of torture committed by their subordinates".
It had been the tribunal's practice, Harhoff explained, that military commanders were held responsible for war crimes that their subordinates committed during the 1992-95 war in the former Yugoslavia.
