There appears to be a legal standoff between the commission and member states about who should introduce a threshold allowing only serious crimes to be pursued through EAWs.

Allowing such minor crimes, "you give them this," he said, indicating his hand, "and they eat this," - he touched his arm.

For example, the police should not be allowed to decide to stop investigating, nor the prosecution be allowed to choose not to prosecute, certain crimes or certain categories of offenders.

Truth commissions are sometimes criticised for allowing crimes to go unpunished, and creating impunity for serious human rights abusers.

Hawks had a stake in keeping estimates high so they could scare American leaders into spending more on nuclear weapons, while some opponents of proliferation may have allowed Soviet crimes to be minimized.

Whether lack of interest or overwhelmed resources is to blame, each system allowed horrific crimes to be committed against its charges.

That could allow massacres and other horrific crimes by either side to escape prosecution so long as those who committed them declared that they were taking part in a military action.

However, the article implies that our department is understaffed, and overstrained, thereby allowing other crimes to rise at the expense of keeping the burglary rate low.

Abdul Rashid Dostum allowed crimes as a perceived payment for his troops.

In the journal, it was stated that as head of the judiciary in Iran, he endorsed and allowed harsh punishments for retribution crimes, crimes against God, and crimes against the state.