France
Practice Relating to Rule 152. Command Responsibility for Orders to Commit War Crimes
France’s Disciplinary Regulations (1975), as amended, states that the commander “bears full responsibility for the orders given and for their execution, and is not relieved thereof by the responsibility borne by his subordinates”.
France’s LOAC Manual (2001) provides:
Each individual is responsible for the violations of the law of armed conflicts for which he/she has made himself/herself guilty, whatever the circumstances may be … The commanders are responsible … for the acts they commit [themselves] and for the orders they give.
France’s Code of Defence (2004), as amended in 2007, states: “The own responsibility of subordinates does not remove the responsibilities of their superiors.”