General Comment on enforced disappearance as a continuous crime

Key Judgment

Legal Relevance

Keywords: Duty to Investigate | Admissibility | Statute of Limitations

Themes: Characteristics of the Crime

The General Comment clarifies the continuous nature of enforced disappearances including that enforced disappearances should be viewed as a crime for as long as all elements of the crime are not complete and that provisions that negatively affect the continuous nature of the violations should be interpreted narrowly. Therefore the Member States hold responsibility for enforced disappearance violations that occurred even before the entry into force of the instrument due to the fact that enforced disappearance is a consolidated act and should not be fractured.