Rome Statutes of the ICC: Article 32 - Mistake of fact or mistake of law, and Article 33 - Superior orders and prescription of law

Article 32 - Mistake of fact or mistake of law

A mistake of fact shall be a ground for excluding criminal responsibility only if it negates the mental element required by the crime.

A mistake of law as to whether a particular type of conduct is a crime within a particular type of Court shall not be a ground for excluding criminal responsibility.  A mistake of law may, however, be a ground for excluding criminal responsibility if it negates the mental element required by such a crime, or as provided for in Article 33.

Article 33 - Superior orders and prescription of law

The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:

 - The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the superior in question;

 - The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and

 - The order was not manifestly unlawful.

For the purposes of this article,  orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.