ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights a number of rather complex difficulties arising from the Rome Statute with regards to war crimes in internal conflicts. The jurisdiction ratione materiae is defined with reference to the concept of "serious violations" of humanitarian principles. As it is well-known, the case law in both ad hoc Tribunals with regards to war crimes committed in an internal conflict has widely used the "open" character of the notion of "serious violation". There have been two steps forward because the Rome Statute is the first written normative instrument potentially of a universal character which qualifies serious violations of humanitarian law in internal conflicts as war crimes, and the first which provides for a mechanism for their prosecution at the international level. The travaux pràparatoires of the Rome Statute clarify the reasons why the majority of the negotiators advocated for the adoption of restrictive solutions.
