Section I. Criminal Law

Article 3. The Basis for Criminal Liability

The only basis for criminal liability shall be the commission of a crime, that is, an act which has all of the attributes of a legally defined crime stipulated by the present Code. No one can be subject to repeated criminal liability for one and the same crime.

Section I. Criminal Law

Article 4. The Action of the Criminal Code in Time

The criminality and punishability of an act shall be defined by the law which was in effect during the time of the commission of that crime. The time of the commission of a socially dangerous act (failure to act), irrespective of the time of the emergence of consequences, shall be recognised as the time of the commission of a given crime.

Article 22
Nullum crimen sine lege
1. A person shall not be criminally responsible under this Statute unless the conduct in question constitutes, at the time it takes place, a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.
2. The definition of a crime shall be strictly construed and shall not be extended by analogy. In case of ambiguity, the definition shall be interpreted in favour of the person being investigated, prosecuted or convicted.
3. This article shall not affect the characterization of any conduct as criminal under international law independently of this Statute.