International Criminal Court (ICC)

Case 3: ICC v. Pierre Laval

The following is to be accepted as the standard fact pattern of the case; additional research is
compulsory. These facts may not be challenged:

On June 22, 1940, Germany took over France and the Vichy government was established. Under
this new government, Pierre Laval was initially appointed to the cabinet position of Minister of State,
which included collaborating with the Germans. However, in December of 1941, he was removed from
office for unilaterally turning over key mining areas to the German occupiers.

In 1942, Laval returned to prominence as the Prime Minister of Vichy France. During his tenure
as Prime Minister, Germany demanded the deportation of all French Jews to German concentration
camps. Laval negotiated a deal with the Nazis to only deport Jews who were not French citizens, causing
France to lose approximately 50% of their Jewish population, as opposed to the rest of Europe who lost
90%. However, Laval also deported Jews under the age of 16, even though the Nazis had stated that
children under that age did not need to be deported.

Once the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, Laval refused to declare war against the
British and join the Germans in the ensuing battles, and the Allies quickly took France. Laval was
evacuated to Germany, though he was captured soon thereafter.

The International Criminal Court is charging Pierre Laval 1 count of Genocide and 2 counts of
Crimes Against Humanity for his role in the deportation of the Jews, as follows:
- Article 6(c): Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part
- Article 7(1)(d): Deportation or forcible transfer of population
- Article 7(1)(h): Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial,
national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that
are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any
act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.