3.1 The Tokyo Charter

This book traces the evolution of crimes against humanity (CAH) and their application from the end of World War I to the present day, in terms of both historic legal analysis and subject-matter content. The first part of the book addresses general issues pertaining to the categorization of CAH in normative jurisprudential and doctrinal terms. This is followed by an analysis of the specific contents of CAH, describing its historic phases going through international criminal tribunals, mixed model tribunals and the International Criminal Court. The book examines the general parts and defenses of the crime, along with the history and jurisprudence of both international and national prosecutions. For the first time, a list of all countries that have enacted national legislation specifically directed at CAH is collected, along with all of the national prosecutions that have occurred under national legislation up to 2010.

Geoffrey Robertson QC, acclaimed author of The Case of the Pope, presents a freshly updated version of his masterwork, Crimes Against Humanity In this fresh edition of the book that has inspired the global justice movement, Geoffrey Robertson QC explains why we must hold political and military leaders accountable for genocide, torture and mass murder - the crimes against humanity that have disfigured the world. He shows how human rights standards can be enforced against cruel governments, armies and multi-national corporations. This seminal work now contains a critical perspective on recent events, such as the Obama administration's use of drone warfare, the Charles Taylor conviction, the trials of Mladic, Karadzic and Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the "Mullahs without Mercy" soon with nuclear arms. 'Millions will be reading his book in the century to come if we are serious in our intention to stop massacres' Observer 'His arguments are exceptionally clear and comprehensible, and legal complexities are rendered into simple and lucid prose' Sunday Telegraph Geoffrey Robertson QC has appeared as counsel in landmark human rights cases in British, International and Commonwealth courts. He is Head of Doughty Street Chambers and Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Birkbeck College. His other books include FREEDOM, THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE LAW and MEDIA LAW (both in Penguin) and his memoir, THE JUSTICE GAME, was published in 1998. He lives in London.

In Crimes Against Humanity in the 21st Century, Dr Robert Dubler SC and Matthew Kalyk provide a comprehensive analysis of crimes against humanity in international criminal law. The text tracks the crime from its conceptual origins in antiquity, to its emergence in customary international law at Nuremberg, to the establishment of the ‘modern definition’ at the Hague with the ICTY, ICTR and ICC, and finally to recent state practice and jurisprudence. The text sets out conclusions about the legal elements of the crime and contends that the raison d'être of the crime is located not in the inhumanity of its authors’ actions but in the extent to which its authors threaten international peace and security so as to justify international intervention. With a foreword by Geoffrey Robertson QC.

Central to this book is the concept of humanity in international law. It traces the evolution of that concept within international law, studies the existing theories of crimes against humanity, and lays out its own theory based on an inclusive view of “humanity”. Crimes against humanity are core crimes under international law; their modern definition is found in the Rome Statute. However, their protective scope remains unclear, with the exact meaning of “humanity” left undefined in law. The proposed theory argues that “humanity” should be understood as “humanness” and crimes against humanity should be criminalised because humanness constitutes these crimes’ valid protected interest. This volume in the International Criminal Justice Series offers an analysis of the German doctrine of Rechtsgut to justify the penalization of crimes against humanity at both domestic and international levels. This is the first monograph on crimes against humanity written by an author from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) aimed at an international audience, and should constitute a useful tool for academics, students and practitioners of international law. Rustam Atadjanov, LLB, LLM, Dr.jur., attained his Ph.D. at the University of Hamburg in Germany and is a former Legal Adviser to the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Central Asia, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

This anthology is about the need for and nature of a convention on crimes against humanity. It uses the Proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity as an important reference point. 16 authors discuss how such a convention may consolidate the definition of crimes against humanity, and develop measures for their prevention and punishment, decades after the conclusion of the Genocide Convention and Geneva Conventions. The authors include Leila N. Sadat, Eleni Chaitidou, Darryl Robinson, María Luisa Piqué, Travis Weber, Julie Pasch, Rhea Brathwaite, Christen Price, Rita Maxwell, Mary Kate Whalen, Ian Kennedy, SHANG Weiwei, ZHANG Yueyao and Tessa Bolton. It contains a preface by late Judge Hans-Peter Kaul and a foreword by Hans Corell. The book is inspired by the rationale of crimes against humanity to protect against the most serious violations of fundamental individual rights, and its realization especially through domestic mechanisms. Such consciousness calls upon appropriate definition and use of contexual elements of the crime, effective jurisdiction for prevention and prosecution, and robust inter-State co-operation. The book considers individual State experiences in combating crimes against humanity. It underlines the importance of avoiding that the process to develop a new convention waters down the law of crimes against humanity or causes further polarisation between States in the area of international criminal law. It suggests that the scope of the obligation to prevent crimes against humanity will become a decisive question.

Crimes against humanity were one of the three categories of crimes elaborated in the Nuremberg Charter. However, unlike genocide and war crimes, they were never set out in a comprehensive international convention. This book represents an effort to complete the Nuremberg legacy by filling this gap. It contains a complete text of a proposed convention on crimes against humanity in English and in French, a comprehensive history of the proposed convention, and fifteen original papers written by leading experts on international criminal law. The papers contain reflections on various aspects of crimes against humanity, including gender crimes, universal jurisdiction, the history of codification efforts, the responsibility to protect, ethnic cleansing, peace and justice dilemmas, amnesties and immunities, the jurisprudence of the ad hoc tribunals, the definition of the crime in customary international law, the ICC definition, the architecture of international criminal justice, modes of criminal participation, crimes against humanity and terrorism, and the inter-state enforcement regime.