Head of state immunity in the light of multiple legal regimes and non-self-contained system theories: Theoretical analysis of ICC third party jurisdiction against the background of the 2003 Iraq war

International criminal law is characterised by a multiplicity of legal regimes; those comprising the family of domestic law; international criminal tribunal regimes that are susceptible only to the law circumscribed by the Security Council and which can differ from general international law; and international criminal tribunals whose competence is delineated by general international law. Within this variety of legal regimes the concept of immunity does not have uniform application, and conflicts between the regimes as such are obvious. The rejection of immunity ratione personae in the legal regimes composed by international tribunals is an exception to the general rule applicable in the regime of domestic criminal laws. An elaboration of our noncontained system theory attempts to demonstrate that the third party rule (in treaty law and by extension to legal regimes) cannot be sustained as legitimate on many occasions.