Ma`rifat Hoghoughi

There is an inseparable connection between "criminal international law" and "international humanitarian law" as two branches of "general international law". International humanitarian law is the basis for presenting the concept of individual criminal responsibility in the international criminal law on the one hand; and when dealing with war crimes, international criminal law complements and guarantees the effectiveness of international humanitarian law on the other hand. Using a descriptive-analytical method and referring to articles, books, international legal cases and the like, the purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between international humanitarian law and international criminal law. In addition, it is clear that the development of international humanitarian law and especially the law of non-international armed conflicts in recent years has been via international criminal law and the establishment of international criminal courts. The role of humanitarian laws in the development and evolution of international criminal law cannot be ignored either. In other words, there is a mutual influence between these two branches of public international law, and the common goal of both is ultimately to honor human dignity. Yet the present international criminal law endangers some humanitarian rights (for example, it marginalizes the preventive approach for the violation of humanitarian rights, is deviated from the goals of humanitarian rights due to having a criminal-oriented approach instead of a victim-oriented one, and etc.) which are discussed in this article.