Definition of Aggression

For those interested in reading more about the definition of aggression, for the purposes of the Rome Statute of the ICC, which was decided upon at the international conference at Kampala last year, there is a good article on the subject at EJIL: Talk! As discussed in the blog post, the new definition and associated "understandings" raise many interesting issues involving treaty interpretation.

The definition itself is as follows:For the purpose of this Statute, “crime of aggression” means the planning, preparation, initiation or execution, by a person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations.