Beyond Hierarchy: Investigating the Role of Complex-Fluid Structures in the Accountability of Criminal Organizations

Globalization and technological development have led to quick transformations in criminal organizations, adapting to new forms/degrees of control and hierarchy. Existing legal frameworks governing responsibility for atrocity crimes have developed from the experiences of Western (center) countries and their understanding of traditional warfare structures. Thus, peripheral regions have been forced to employ doctrines with weak sociological basis. New and conventional local dynamics inside organizations and their consequential fluidity challenge the applicability of traditional modes of liability when seeking their members’ accountability. This paper inquires about the suitability of two modes of liability under ICL –perpetration through an organization and superior responsibility– in responding to non-hierarchical-fluid organizations in Mexico and Sierra Leone. Three dimensions are stressed: the role of hierarchical organizational structures for accountability, the dynamic nature of authority/control, and the impact of subordinates’ “replaceability”. In this regard, it will study the possibility of jointly applying different modes of liability and/or their reinterpretation to respond to various social contexts.