Erich Priebke was accused of the massacre of 335 Italian citizens at the Ardeatine Caves near Rome in 1944, after the conviction of Herbert Kappler and other Nazi officers involved in that shooting on 20 July 1948.

In May 1994, Priebke was discovered to be living in Argentina. His case began in August 1995, when Italy submitted a formal request for his extradition, along with related information and documentation. On 2 November 1995, Argentina granted the Italian request.

The first trial of this case ended on 1 August 1996, with the Military Court of Rome finding Priebke guilty of violence and murder perpetrated against Italian citizens, a crime punishable under Articles 13 and 185 of the Military Penal Code. Priebke was nevertheless released on grounds of statutory limitations.

This decision was quashed in September 1996 by the Supreme Court of Cassation, which had accepted a petition for exception to the President of the Military Court.

At its second trial, the Military Court of Rome, which had decided to examine the Hass and Priebke cases together, rejected the statutory limitations argument while upholding the ruling that Priebke's acts came under the provisions of Articles 13 and 185 of the Military Penal Code. This judgment, handed down on 22 July 1997, clearly defined the acts committed as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Priebke was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In its relevant parts, the judgment of 22 July 1997 was upheld by the Military Court of Appeal (Hass and Priebke, 7 March 1998) and the Supreme Court of Cassation (Hass and Priebke, 16 November 1998), although the sentence was increased to life imprisonment to be served in a military prison.

These trials and judgments highlight various legal issues relevant to IHL.

First of all, the last three judgments clearly point to the absence of a statute of limitations for war crimes, despite the fact that Italy is not party to the United Nations Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity of 19 December 1968. As a whole, the Priebke case has helped consolidate the principle of the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes as a peremptory norm of general international law. Indeed, the courts described the principle as having a jus cogens nature.

Secondly, the judgments found that German troops had a right of reprisal since the attack launched by the partisans in Via Rasella was an unlawful act of warfare carried out under the responsibility of the Italian State. However, the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled that the reprisals were nevertheless unlawful owing to a lack of proportionality and necessity, and because they contradicted the Martens clause.

Thirdly, by rejecting Priebke's claim that he should be granted mitigating circumstances on the grounds that he was merely carrying out superior orders. The judgment of 22 July 1997 rejects the mitigated circumstances because the execution of the superior order invoked by Priebke was patently illegal. It confirms that if a given other is manifestly illegal , the subordonate does not escape liability even if acting in pursuance of a command.

The last point states in order to the issue of duress. In view to this plea, a person threatened with severe and irremediable harm to life can invoke duress to avoid crmininal responsibility. The Court rejects that argument denying that such threat had ever been made to Priebke and Haas.


Text:

Extracts:

Pt. 1.1.4 : "Pour résumer les caractéristiques générales des représailles comme notion juridique de droit international [...] entendu, toute violation volontaire d'un droit ou d'un intérêt juridique d'un État auteur d'une infraction internationale par l'État victime, cette réaction à l'atteinte subie, prouvée comme telle, doit néanmoins demeurer proportionnée au dommage subi mais aussi ne doit jamais violer les exigences fondamentales et élémentaires d'humanité et de conscience publique. Il en résulte qu'avec le massacre des fosses Ardéatines, cette réaction de l'État allemand à l'attaque de la via Rasella démontre une disproportion inacceptable entre la mort de 33 militaires allemands et l'assassinat de 335 personnes [...] et que, partant, il est certain au regard de l'absence de proportionnalité que les représailles des fosses Ardéatines ne peuvent être retenues comme légitimes".

Pt. 1.1.14 d) : "En résumé, il ressort que la Convention adoptée par l'Assemblée des Nations Unies par la résolution 2391 (XXIII) du 26 novembre 1968 a solennellement affirmé en droit international 'le principe de l'imprescriptibilité des crimes de guerre et des crimes contre l'humanité, qu'un tel acte des Nations Unies représente indubitablement le point d'arrivée d'un lent mais constant processus international (dont le début remonte au Manuel adopté par l'Institut de Droit International le 9 septembre 1880 à la session d'Oxford, appelé Manuel d'Oxford) tendant à réprimer plus efficacement les violations des lois et usages de la guerre ; et que dans ce cadre le principe d'imprescriptibilité des crimes de guerre et des crimes contre l'Humanité revêt objectivement un caractère de 'jus cogens' dans la mesure où il contribue à la protection des intérêts généraux de la société internationale".



References: National Laws and Regulations
Criminal Military Code of War: Art. 13 and 185 .