Die durch das Roemische Statut des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofes angestossenen Entwicklungen im Voelkerstrafrecht fuhren dazu, dass auch auf der nationalen Ebene Rechtsgrundlagen zur Verfolgung von Verbrechen gegen das Voelkerrecht notwendig werden. Das neue deutsche Voelkerstrafgesetzbuch steht dabei vor der Herausforderung, einerseits das geltende Voelkerstrafrecht in nationales Recht zu transponieren, sich dabei aber andererseits im vorgegebenen Rahmen des Grundgesetzes zu halten, namentlich was die Einhaltung des Bestimmtheitsgrundsatzes betrifft. Der Autor geht der Frage nach, wie dieser Balanceakt im besonders komplexen Recht der Kriegsverbrechen gelungen ist. Er entwickelt Auslegungsgrundsatze und wendet diese auf als problematisch erkannte Tatbestande an.

This book examines the historical genealogy of the torture taboo. The dissonance between the absolute prohibition against torture and its widespread violation raises important questions about the torture taboo in world politics. Does the torture taboo matter? Or are political realists correct in arguing that power politics rules? Barnes argues that despite the torture taboo's violation, it still matters, and paradoxically, its strength can be seen by studying its violation. States hide, deny, re-define and outsource their torture, as well as torture without leaving marks to avoid being stigmatised as a norm violating state. Tracing a genealogy of the torture taboo from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century Barnes shows how the taboo has developed over time, and how violations have played an important role in that development. Through six historical and contemporary case studies, it is argued that the taboo's humanitarian pressures do not cease when states violate the norm, but continue to shape actors in unexpected ways. Building upon the constructivist norm literature that has shown how norms shape state actions and interests, the book also widens our understanding of the complex role norm violations play in international society. Making a contribution to existing public debates on the use of torture in counter-terrorism policy, it will be of great use to scholars, postgraduates and practitioners in the fields of human rights, international relations theory (in particular constructivism), security studies and international law.

Certain types of crimes are increasingly being perpetrated across national borders and so require a unified regional or global response to combat them. Transnational criminal law covers both the international treaty obligations which require States to introduce specific substantive measures into their domestic criminal law schemes, and an allied procedural dimension mainly concerned with the articulation of inter-state cooperation in pursuit of the alleged transnational criminal through mutual legal assistance and extradition. The Routledge Handbook of Transnational Criminal Law provides a comprehensive overview of the system which is designed to regulate cross border crime. The book looks at the history and development of the system asking questions as to the principal purpose and effectiveness of transnational criminal law as it currently stands. The book brings together experts in the field, both scholars and practitioners, in order to offer original and forward-looking analyses of all the key elements of the transnational criminal law. The book is split into several parts for ease of reference.Part 1 covers the fundamental concepts surrounding the international regulation of transnational crime. The second part addresses procedure including jurisdiction, police cooperation, asset recovery and extradition. Part 3 considers the different crimes covered by transnational criminal law analysing the current legal provisions for each crime. The fourth and final part analyses the implementation of transnational criminal law and will explore how far legal cooperation can go in the suppression of transnational crime develop at a global level . With chapters from over 25 authorities in the field this handbook will be an invaluable reference work for students and academics as well as policy makers with an interest in transnational crime and criminal law.

The act of fighting or being a fighter has certain consequences in international law. The most obvious example can be found in international humanitarian law, where a distinction is drawn between fighters and civilians, with fighters being military objectives and civilians being protected from attack. Another example is from international human rights law, where it has been held that the particular characteristics of military life have to be taken into account when interpreting the human rights of members of state armed forces. This volume focuses on the field of international criminal law and asks the question: what relevance does fighting have to victimhood in international criminal law? Among the topics which are explored are: how have international criminal courts and tribunals untangled lawful casualties of war from victims of war crimes? How have they determined who is a member of an organised armed group and who is not? What crimes can those who fight be victims of during hostilities? When does it become relevant in international criminal law that an alleged victim of a crime was a person hors de combat rather than a civilian? Can war crimes be committed against members of non-opposing forces? Can persons hors de combat be victims of crimes against humanity and genocide? What special considerations surround peacekeepers and child soldiers as victims of international crimes? The author carries out an in-depth exploration of case law from international criminal courts and tribunals to assess how they have dealt with these questions. She concludes that the import of fighting upon victimhood in the context of international criminal law has not always been appreciated to the extent it should have been.

This book offers a comprehensive study of incitement in its various forms in international law. It discusses the status of incitement to hatred in human rights law and examines its harms and dangers as well as the impact of a prohibition on freedom of speech. The book additionally presents a detailed definition of punishable incitement. In this context, Wibke K. Timmermann argues that incitement should be recognized as the crime of persecution, where it is utilized within a system of persecutory measures by the State or a similarly powerful organization. The book draws on the Nahimana case before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as well as jurisprudence from German and other courts following World War II to provide support for this proposal. The work moreover provides a comprehensive analysis of public incitement to crimes; solicitation or instigation; and the related modes of liability aiding and abetting and commission through another person. Dedicated exclusively and comprehensively to incitement in its various forms, this book will be of essential use and great interest to students and researchers of international criminal law and human rights law, in addition to practitioners within these areas.

This textbook provides an accessible and interdisciplinary introduction to genocide with an emphasis on the criminal aspect of genocide. It draws on sociological, political, and historical concepts to discuss how they contribute to our understanding of genocide as an international crime. It walks students through the evolution of genocide as a criminal act and the legal responses available using case studies to demonstrate how concepts work in action. It combines Criminology and Law, arguing that Criminology can help explain the 'why and how' while Law can explain the responses to crime. This textbook includes a chapter on genocide denial as well as discussion questions at the end of the chapters, boxed examples, and further reading. It speaks to students in Criminology, Law, Socio-Legal Studies, and beyond, as well as to practitioners in the criminal justice field.

The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. At its genesis the ICC was expected to help prevent atrocities from arising or escalating by ending the impunity of leaders and administering punishment for the commission of international crimes. More than a decade later, the ICC's ability to achieve these broad aims has been questioned, as the ICC has reached only two guilty verdicts. In addition, some of the world's major powers, including the United States, Russia and China, are not members of the ICC. These issues underscore a gap between the ideals of prevention and deterrence and the reality of the ICC's functioning. This book explores the gaps, schisms, and contradictions that are increasingly defining the International Criminal Court, moving beyond existing legal, international relations, and political accounts of the ICC to analyse the Court from a criminological standpoint. By exploring the way different actors engage with the ICC and viewing the Court through the framework of late modernity, the book considers how gaps between rhetoric and reality arise in the work of the ICC. Contrary to much existing research, the book examines how such gaps and tensions can be productive as they enable the Court to navigate a complex, international environment driven by geopolitics. The International Criminal Court and Global Social Control will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced practitioners in international law, international relations, criminology, and political science. It will also be of use in upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to international criminal justice and globalization.

In the last two decades there has been a meteoric rise of international criminal tribunals and courts, and also a strengthening chorus of critics against them. Today it is hard to find strong defenders of international criminal tribunals and courts. This book attempts such a defense against an array of critics. It offers a nuanced defense, accepting many criticisms but arguing that the idea of international criminal tribunals can be defended as providing the fairest way to deal with mass atrocity crimes in a global arena. Fairness and moral legitimacy will be at the heart of this defense. The authors take up the economic and political arguments that have been powerfully expressed, as well as arguments about sovereignty, punishment, responsibility, and evidence; but in the end they show that these arguments do not defeat the idea of international criminal courts and tribunals.

International criminal law has developed extraordinarily quickly over the last decade, with the creation of ad hoc tribunals in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court. This book provides a timely and comprehensive survey of emerging and existing areas of international criminal law. The Handbook features new, specially commissioned papers by a range of international and leading experts in the field. It contains reflections on the theoretical aspects and contemporary debates in international criminal law. The book is split into four parts for ease of reference: The Historical and Institutional Framework - Sets international criminal law firmly in context with individual chapters on the important developments and key institutions which have been established. The Crimes - Identifies and analyses international crimes, including a chapter on aggression. The Practice of International Tribunals - Focuses on topics relating to the practice and procedure of international criminal law. Key Issues in International Criminal Law - Goes on to explore issues of importance such as universal jurisdiction, amnesties and international criminal law and human rights. Providing easy access to up-to-date and authoritative articles covering all key aspects of international criminal law, this book is an essential reference work for students, scholars and practitioners working in the field.

The Eichmann Trial Reconsidered brings together leading authorities in a transnational, international, and supranational study of Adolf Eichmann, who was captured by the Israelis in Argentina and tried in Jerusalem in 1961. The essays in this important new collection span the disciplines of history, film studies, political science, sociology, psychology, and law. Contributing scholars adopt a wide historical lens, pushing outwards in time and space to examine the historical and legal influence that Adolf Eichmann and his trial held for Israel, West Germany, and the Middle East. In addition to taking up the question of what drove Eichmann, contributors explore the motivation of prosecutors, lawyers, diplomats, and neighbouring countries before, during, and after the trial ended. The Eichmann Trial Reconsidered puts Eichmann at the centre of an exploration of German versus Israeli jurisprudence, national Israeli identities and politics, and the conflict between German, Israeli, and Arab states.

The most commonly cited justification for international criminal law is that it addresses crimes of such gravity that they "shock the conscience of humanity." From decisions about how to define crimes and when to exercise jurisdiction, to limitations on defences and sentencing determinations, gravity rhetoric permeates the discourse of international criminal law. Yet the concept of gravity has thus far remained highly undertheorized. This book uncovers the consequences for the regime's legitimacy of its heavy reliance on the poorly understood idea of gravity. Margaret M. deGuzman argues that gravity's ambiguity may at times enable a thin consensus to emerge around decisions, such as the creation of an institution or the definition of a crime, but that, increasingly, it undermines efforts to build a strong and resilient global justice community. The book suggests ways to reconceptualize gravity in line with global values and goals to better support the long-term legitimacy of international criminal law.

Striking a balance between peace and justice has long been debated by scholars and practitioners. There has been definite progress in a world in which blanket amnesties were at times granted with little hesitation. There is a growing understanding that accountability has both pragmatic and principled arguments in its favor. Practical arguments as much as shifts in norms have created a situation in which the choice is increasingly seen as "which forms of accountability" rather than a stark one between peace and justice. The Colombian Justice and Peace Law 975 and its implementation offer an interesting and unique approach to dealing with the international crimes committed in Colombia's decades-long armed conflict. Yet, will this approach suffice with regard to Colombia's obligations under international law to investigate and prosecute international crimes? Does it meet the standards of the ICC, which has been monitoring the Colombian situation for some time now? In particular, does it pass the complementarity test laid out in the ICC statute or will the ICC have to intervene in Colombia to enforce international criminal law?

This casebook addresses selected precedent-setting rulings of various international human rights and international criminal courts with a focus on the child victims of international crimes and human rights abuses. The cases are analysed from the children's human rights perspective and the question is examined as to what extent the aforementioned courts are according these children justice. The scope of the book is thus limited to the consideration of these representative important cases concerning violations of (a) international human rights and humanitarian law and (b) international criminal law involving child victims and the judicial remedies accorded or denied these victims and their family members. This is not in any way to diminish the suffering and importance of the adult victims of violations of fundamental human rights and grave international crimes. Rather, the book is intended to deal with the restricted and largely neglected topic of to what extent international courts are attending to the implications of there being child victims with respect to the courts' addressing and handling of, among other matters, the following: (a) the con?rmation of charges relating to child-speci?c international crimes (i. e. recruitment of child soldiers, forced child marriage etc.

This collection focuses on media representations of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, defendants in the Meredith Kercher murder case. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing criminology, socio-legal analysis, critical discourse studies, cultural studies and celebrity studies, the book analyses how this case was narrated in the media and why Knox emerged as the main protagonist. The case was one of the first transmedia crime stories, shaped and influenced by its circulation between a variety of media platforms. The chapters show how the new media landscape impacts on the way in which different stakeholders, from suspects and victims' families to journalists and the general public, are engaging with criminal justice. While traditional news media played a significant role in the construction of innocence and guilt, social media offered users a worldwide forum to talk back in a way that both amplified and challenged the dominant media narrative biased in favour of a presumption of guilt. This book begins with a new and original foreword written by Yvonne Jewkes, University of Brighton, UK.

Over the last decade, law enforcement agencies have engaged in increasingly intrusive surveillance methods, from location tracking on cell phones to reading metadata off of e-mails. As a result, many believe we are heading towards an omniscient surveillance state and irrevocable damage to our privacy rights. In Smart Surveillance, Ric Simmons challenges this conventional wisdom by taking a broader look at the effect of new technologies and privacy, arguing that advances in technology can enhance our privacy and our security at the same time. Rather than focusing exclusively on the rise of invasive surveillance technologies, Simmons proposes a fundamentally new method of evaluating government searches - based on quantification, transparency, and efficiency - resulting in a legal regime that can adapt as technology and society change.

High-profile legal cases involving individuals with mental health challenges often address complex issues that confront previous decisions of the courts, influence or change existing social policies, and ultimately have a profound impact on the daily practice of mental health professionals and the lives of their patients. Providing in-depth context into milestone cases in forensic mental health, this book addresses issues such as the confidentiality of mental health records, criminal responsibility, fitness to stand trial, the right of individuals to refuse mental health treatment, and the duty of mental health practitioners to warn and protect individuals who may be at risk of harm at the hands of a patient. The authors explore the social and political context in which these cases occurred, incorporating court decisions, contemporaneous media articles, and legal reviews in the analysis. Graham Glancy and Cheryl Regehr, who are experts in the field of forensic psychiatry, draw upon their own practice, in addition to scholarly literature, to describe the impact of the decisions rendered by the courts in the area of mental health and offer practical guidelines for professionals working at the interface of law and mental health.

Transitional justice processes are now considered to be crucial steps in facilitating the move from conflict or repression to a secure democratic future. This book contributes to a deeper understanding of transitional justice by examining the complexities of transition in postcolonial societies. It focuses particularly on Zimbabwe but draws on relevant comparative material from other postcolonial polities. Examples include but are not limited to African countries such as South Africa, Rwanda and Mozambique. European societies such as Northern Ireland, as well as other nations such as Guatemala, are also considered. While amplifying the breadth of the subject of transitional justice, the book addresses the claim that transitional justice mechanisms in postcolonial countries are necessary if the rule of law and the credibility of the country's legal institutions are to be restored. Drawing on postcolonial legal theory, and especially on analyses of the relationship between international law and imperialism, the book challenges the assumption that a domestic rule of law 'deficit' may be remedied with recourse to international law. Taking up the paradigmatic perception that international law is neutral and has fixed rules, it demonstrates how complex issues which arise during postcolonial transitions require a more critical adoption of transitional justice mechanisms.

Sex crimes, such as rape, child sexual abuse, and intimate partner violence, are increasingly transnational in nature, introducing unique cross-border and cross-cultural challenges for police, the courts, and the law. Policy makers and practitioners are in need of a resource that explores the incidence, prosecution, and treatment of sexual crimes across different countries and cultures. This book is the first to investigate all aspects of sexual crimes and the policy and management initiatives developed to address them from a transnational, global perspective. Introducing an array of tools for reducing the prevalence and consequences of sex crimes, this volume brings together leading scholars in criminology, criminal justice, social work, and law to discuss topics ranging from sex trafficking and sex tourism to pornography, cyberstalking, and sexual abuse in the military and the Catholic church. Case studies track the reporting of these crimes, the methods used to interview victims and perpetrators, and the policies enacted to punish those involved.

In the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, major offences committed by individuals have been subject to progressive systematisation in the framework of international criminal law. Proposals developed within the context of the League of Nations coordinated individual liability and State responsibility. By contrast, international law as codified after World War II in the framework of the United Nations embodies a neat divide between individual criminal liability and State aggravated responsibility. However, conduct of State organs and agents generates dual liability. Through a critical analysis of key international rules, the book assesses whether the divisive approach to individual and State responsibility is normatively consistent. Contemporary situations, such as the humanitarian crises in Syria and Libya, 9/11 and the Iraq wars demonstrate that the matter still gives rise to controversy: a set of systemic problems emerge. The research focuses on the substantive elements of major offences, notably agression, genocide, core war crimes, core crimes against humanity and terrorism, as well as relevant procedural implications. The book is a useful resource for practitioners, policymakers, academics, students, researchers and anyone interested in international law and politics.

Written by eminent international judges, scholars and practitioners, this book offers a timely study of China's role in international dispute resolution in the context of the construction of the 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI). It provides in-depth analysis of the law and practice in the fields of international trade, commerce, investment and international law of the sea, as they relate to the BRI construction. It is the first comprehensive assessment of China's policy and practice in international dispute resolution, in general and in individual fields, in the context of the BRI construction. This book will be an indispensable reading for scholars and practitioners with interest in China and international dispute resolution. It also constitutes an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the changing international law and order, in which China is playing an increasingly significant role, particularly through the BRI construction.

Contemporary feminist advocacy in human rights, international criminal law, and peace and security is gripped by the issue of sexual violence in conflict. But it hasn't always been this way. Analyzing feminist international legal and political work over the past three decades, Karen Engle argues that it was not inevitable that sexual violence in conflict would become such a prominent issue. Engle reveals that as feminists from around the world began to pay an enormous amount of attention to sexual violence in conflict, they often did so at the cost of attention to other issues, including the anti-militarism of the women's peace movement; critiques of economic maldistribution, imperialism, and cultural essentialism by feminists from the global South; and the sex-positive positions of many feminists involved in debates about sex work and pornography. The Grip of Sexual Violence in Conflict offers a detailed examination of how these feminist commitments were not merely deprioritized, but undermined, by efforts to address the issue of sexual violence in conflict. Engle's analysis reinvigorates vital debates about feminist goals and priorities, and spurs readers to question much of today's common sense about the causes, effects, and proper responses to sexual violence in conflict.

This monograph examines and analyses the phenomenon of non-binding instruments (also known as 'soft law') in the law of armed conflict, or international humanitarian law. In the past 30 years, there have been several non-binding instruments created, designed as either 'best practice' guidelines, or (re)statements of applicable law. These instruments are not treaties, but they nevertheless put themselves forward as authoritative statements of what the law is and, in some instances, what the law should be. Soft law instruments can be dynamic, prompt, and responsive measures to address pressing issues in armed conflicts. By drawing on the skill of a small group of experts, these instruments can be debated and drafted in a timelier manner than if these issues were to be left to the international community of 194 States to resolve. Furthermore, because these instruments do not have to be sent for debate to an international conference of States, it means that the provisions are not subject to the usual revisions, reservations, and dilutions that come with attempting to reach consensus. However, there are potential and actual problems with these instruments and the processes that bring them to fruition, and how they are received in practice by States and other stakeholders. This volume looks at the benefits and drawbacks for States and non-State actors with regards to soft law, whether they are effective additions to the law of armed conflict, analysing the development through the lens of theories of legitimacy and legality in international law.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines more than ninety crimes that fall within the Court's jurisdiction: genocide, other crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. How these crimes are interpreted contributes to findings of individual criminal liability, and moreover affects the perceived legitimacy of the Court. And yet, to date, there is no agreed-upon approach to interpreting these definitions. This book offers practitioners and scholars a guiding principle, arguments and aids necessary for the interpretation of international crimes. Leena Grover surveys the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda before presenting a model of interpretive reasoning that integrates the guidance within the Rome Statute into articles 31-33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969).

The history of international criminal justice is often recounted as a series of institutional innovations. But international criminal justice is also the product of intellectual developments made in its infancy. This book examines the contributions of a dozen key figures in the early phase of international criminal justice, focusing principally on the inter-war years up to Nuremberg. Where did these figures come from, what did they have in common, and what is left of their legacy? What did they leave out? How was international criminal justice framed by the concerns of their epoch and what intuitions have passed the test of time? What does it mean to reimagine international criminal justice as emanating from individual intellectual narratives? In interrogating this past in all its complexity one does not only do justice to it; one can recover a sense of the manifold trajectories that international criminal justice could have taken.

In United States Law and Policy on Transitional Justice: Principles, Politics, and Pragmatics, Zachary D. Kaufman explores the U.S. government's support for, or opposition to, certain transitional justice institutions. By first presenting an overview of possible responses to atrocities (such as war crimes tribunals) and then analyzing six historical case studies, Kaufman evaluates why and how the United States has pursued particular transitional justice options since World War II. This book challenges the "legalist" paradigm, which postulates that liberal states pursue war crimes tribunals because their decision-makers hold a principled commitment to the rule of law. Kaufman develops an alternative theory-"prudentialism"-which contends that any state (liberal or illiberal) may support bona fide war crimes tribunals. More generally, prudentialism proposes that states pursue transitional justice options, not out of strict adherence to certain principles, but as a result of a case-specific balancing of politics, pragmatics, and normative beliefs. Kaufman tests these two competing theories through the U.S. experience in six contexts: Germany and Japan after World War II, the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, the 1990-1991 Iraqi offenses against Kuwaitis, the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Kaufman demonstrates that political and pragmatic factors featured as or more prominently in U.S. transitional justice policy than did U.S. government officials' normative beliefs. Kaufman thus concludes that, at least for the United States, prudentialism is superior to legalism as an explanatory theory in transitional justice policymaking.