Last November, after the Shaaban case was brought before it, the court decided that the French judiciary does not have jurisdiction over it, referring to the principle of “double criminality” stipulated in a law issued on August 9, 2010.
On Friday, the French Court of Cassation confirmed that the local judiciary enjoys global jurisdiction that allows it to pursue foreigners, paving the way for two complaints filed against Syrians accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in their country. The court said that it “recognizes the principle of universal jurisdiction of the French judiciary in the two cases related to Syria.”
This decision allows for the continuation of investigations in two cases involving Abdel Hamid Shaaban, a former Syrian soldier who was arrested in France and charged with complicity in committing crimes against humanity in February 2019, and his compatriot Majdi Nehme, the former spokesman for the opposition “Jaysh al-Islam” organization, who is facing charges. torture and war crimes.
Both of them deny these accusations, and they went to the Court of Cassation.
Last November, after the Shaaban case was brought before it, the court considered that the French judiciary does not have jurisdiction over it, referring to the principle of “double criminality” stipulated in a law issued on August 9, 2010.
This principle states that crimes against humanity and war crimes must be recognized in the country of origin of the suspect whom France intends to prosecute.
Syria does not recognize these crimes and has not ratified the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court.
This opinion caused a shock to jurists and human rights organizations. The International Federation for Human Rights, one of the parties to the prosecution, filed an objection for a procedural reason, which allowed the case to be returned to the Court of Cassation.
The decision issued on Friday is of importance with regard to 160 cases that the “Crimes Against Humanity” department is currently working on, including thirty geographical regions, and files related to 16 of these regions, including Syria, Russia and Ukraine.
European countries have previously resorted to the principle of universal jurisdiction to try and convict presumed Syrian war criminals.
Last year, the German judiciary convicted a former Syrian officer of committing crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison, in the first global trial of torture by regular forces in Syrian prisons.
Likewise, courts in Sweden and Austria have handed down sentences against Syrians for crimes committed during the conflict that began in their country in 2011.
