Joint criminal enterprise

Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine that has been used during war crimes tribunals to prosecute individuals in a group for the actions of said group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually responsible for crimes committed by the group within its common plan or purpose.

The legal doctrine specifically arose through the application of the idea of common purpose and has been applied by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to prosecute political and military leaders for mass war crimes, including genocide, committed during the Yugoslav Wars from 1991 to 1999.

For example, "if three people commit a bank robbery and one fatally shoots a person in the process, the law considers all guilty of murder" via the concept of "collective liability" where more than one person can share liability and punishment for the actions of another person. The idea of "collective liability," however, has not been universally accepted and is considered by some to be a form of human rights abuse, while others believe it is just.

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