Abstract:
International crimes are severe criminal offences and effected to the international community as a whole. International law therefore determines States, in the international community to be obliged to the international customary laws and international agreements. States can exercise their universal jurisdiction over the international crimes regardless their links with such crimes. Moreover, States can extradite the offenders, even Head of States, to another State intending to prosecute them, these are under the principle of Aut Dedere Aut Judicare. According to the international law, the Head of States have the special status : the sovereign immunity, which is the important obstacle to prosecute and punish the Head of States who commits the international crimes. Other obstacles are the absence or inadequate of municipal legislation, the politic interference, and the unefficiency of the domestic administration of justice. These obstacles are clearly shown in the prosecution of General Augusto Pinochet, the former President of Chile, in domestic courts. Now the effect of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court 1998, the sovereign immunity is more clearly stipulated, such statute is only limited to War Crimes, Crimes against humanity, Genocide and Aggression, not to the transnational crimes. Thus, the sovereign immunity is still the problem for prosecuting the Head of states. This research is therefore given to provide the readers with suggestion for solutions to the aforementioned problems for the purpose of the effciency of prosecution and punishment to the Head of States committing the international crimes these make the elimination of such crimes more effectively