This paper seeks to provide an analysis of the uses of the concept of ‘essence’ by international criminal courts and tribunals. In particular, it is based on a survey of decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (icty), whose Trial and Appeals chambers have used the concept on multiple occasions and with consequences which have been overlooked in the literature. By providing an analysis of the concept’s uses in connection with the icty’s identification and application of customary international law, the paper addresses some of the general international law and philosophical issues raised by the concept’s uses. The paper places the concept’s uses within their respective contexts, and discusses related international decisions and academic commentary. The paper concludes by suggesting potential avenues for elucidating the concept of ‘essence’ and its proper use, with a particular focus on the notions of ‘intension’, ‘extension’ and an intensional ‘extensional property’.

本文旨在分析国际刑事法院和法庭对“本质”概念的使用。特别是，它基于对前南斯拉夫问题国际刑事法庭（icty）的裁决的调查，其审判和上诉分庭曾多次使用该概念，其后果在文献中被忽视。通过提供对与前南问题国际法庭有关的概念用途的分析的识别和习惯国际法的适用，该文件解决了该概念的使用引起的一些一般国际法和哲学问题。该论文将这一概念的使用置于各自的背景下，并讨论了相关的国际决策和学术评论。论文最后提出了阐明“本质”概念及其正确使用的潜在途径，特别关注“内涵”、“外延”和内涵“外延性质”的概念。