Neuroscientific Evidence in Trials of Young Perpetrators Involved in Armed Conflict and Mass Atrocity

In many jurisdictions, the criminal responsibility of adults is demarcated from pre-adults (adolescents, pre-adolescents, and children) based on a threshold criterion – one is either an adult or a pre-adult, and different levels of responsibility are accordingly inferred and imputed. But in a world where complexity is growingly acknowledged, and by that token, nuance and variety, there has been a predilection for the spectrum over the binary – or the scalar over the threshold. In the context of juvenile justice, this has manifested in a move away from the binary demarcation between adults and pre-adults through a growing faith in brain developmental science, which in turn, focuses on the developmental stages of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). In pre-adults, especially in adolescents, immature PFCs account for impulsiveness, volatility, and influence by peers, which in turn impact judgment and decision-making. These findings have been introduced in a few state and federal US courts trying juveniles, and recently, in the ICC trial and appeal of Dominic Ongwen, a child soldier. This paper assesses the nature, scope, and treatment of neuroscientific evidence, and lays down guidelines about its anticipated application in international trials involving vulnerable perpetrators such as juveniles

Armed conflict · Computer security · Criminology · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Political science · Suicide prevention · Computer Science · Economic Sanctions and International Relations · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Torture, Ethics, and Law

• Neuroscience and Non-Lethal Violence in Genocide

  Sabah Carrim•Genocide Studies International•2025

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