Crimes of atrocity have profound and long-lasting effects on any society. The difference between triggering and preventing these tragic crimes often amounts to the choice between national potential preserved or destroyed. It is also important to recognise that they are not inevitable: the commission of these crimes requires a collective effort, an organisational context, and long planning and preparation. Thus, the idea of strengthening preventative action has taken on greater relevance, and is now encompassed in the emerging notion of 'responsibility to prevent'. International courts and tribunals contribute to this effort by ending impunity for past crimes. Focusing investigations and prosecution on the highest leadership maximises the impact of this contribution. The ICC has an additional preventative mandate which is fulfilled by its timely intervention in the form of preliminary examinations. Moreover, when situations of atrocity crimes are triggered, its complementarity regime incentivises states to stop violence and comply with their duties to investigate and prosecute, thus strengthening the rule of law at the national level. The new role granted to victims by the Rome Statute is key to the ICC ́s successful fulfilment of these functions. This new book of essays, which includes the author's unpublished inaugural lecture at Utrecht University, examines these issues and places particular emphasis on the additional preventative mandate of the ICC, the ICC complementarity regime, the new role granted to victims, and the prosecution of the highest leadership through the notion of indirect perpetration. 'The work of Professor Olasolo breaks new ground in the academic field of international criminal law, as an analysis of the system as a whole. I therefore wish to express my congratulations for this work.' From the Foreword by Luis Moreno Ocampo Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Hague, 27 April 2011 '[Professor Hector Olasolo's] compilation provides an enormous source of easy reference to students, academia and legal actors in the field of international law. A look at the titles compiled in this volume demonstrates the present challenges to international criminal justice'. From the Preliminary Reflections by Elizabeth Odio Benito Judge and Former Vice-President, International Criminal Court, The Hague, May 2011 'This collection, written by a brilliant and prolific scholar and practitioner of international criminal justice, is an insightful and important contribution to the existing literature...Each chapter in this collection is copiously footnoted and thoroughly researched, making it an important reference tool for scholars and practitioners in the field. Additionally and importantly, the chapters explore, without polemic, areas of controversy and dissent and thoughtfully and scrupulously set forth arguments for and against particular doctrinal choices.' From the Introduction by Leila Nadya Sadat Henry H Oberschelp Professor of Law and Director, Whitney R Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law; Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Fulbright Chair, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, Spring 2011

International criminal law has developed considerably in the last decade and a half, resulting in a complex and re-invigorated discipline. This has impacted directly on the popularity of the study of the subject, particularly on postgraduate law degrees. This textbook serves these courses by providing an introduction to the principles of international criminal law and processes. Written by four international lawyers with experience of teaching international criminal law, it is accessible yet sophisticated in its approach. It covers substantive international criminal law, the institutions designed to enforce it and their procedures, and the international law applicable to domestic prosecutions of international crimes. It will be essential reading for students and teachers of international criminal law. In addition, practitioners and researchers in the field (and in related fields such as criminal law), students of international law and international relations will find this introduction invaluable.

Volume 3 addresses the direct enforcement system, namely international criminal tribunals, how they came about and how they functioned, tracing that history from the end of WWI to the ICC, including the post-WWII experiences. They address the IMT, IMTFE, ICTY, ICTR, the mixed model tribunals and the ICC. It also contains a chapter which addresses some of the problems of the direct enforcement system, namely the general, procedural, evidentiary, and sanctions parts of ICL, which is largely made of what is contained in the statutes of the tribunals mentioned above as well as the jurisprudence of the established tribunals. In addition this volume addresses national experiences with the enforcement of certain international crimes. It is divided into 4 chapters which are titled as: Chapter 1: History of International Investigations and Prosecutions (International Criminal Accountability; International Criminal Justice in Historical Perspective); Chapter 2: International Criminal Tribunals and Mixed Model Tribunals (The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; The Making of the International Criminal Court; Mixed Models of International Criminal Justice; Special Court for Sierra Leone; Special Tribunal for Cambodia; East Timor); Chapter 3: National Prosecutions for International Crimes (National Prosecutions for International Crimes; National Prosecutions of International Crimes: A Historical Overview; The French Experience; The Belgian Experience; The Dutch Experience; Indonesia; The U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996; Enforcing ICL Violations with Civil Remedies: The Case of the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act); Chapter 4: Contemporary Issues in International Criminal Law Doctrine and Practice (Command Responsibility; Joint Criminal Enterprise; The Responsibility of Peacekeepers; The General Part: Judicial Developments; Ne bis in idem; Plea Bargains; Issues Pertaining to the Evidentiary Part of International Criminal Law; Penalties and Sentencing; Penalties: From Leipzig to Arusha; Victimsa (TM) Rights in International Law).

Drawing on the critical legal tradition, the collection of international scholars gathered in this volume analyse the complicities and limitations of International Criminal Law. This area of law has recently experienced a significant surge in scholarship and public debate; individual criminal accountability is now firmly entrenched in both international law and the international consciousness as a necessary mechanism of responsibility. Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law: An Introduction shifts the debate towards that which has so far been missing from the mainstream discussion: the possible injustices, exclusions, and biases of International Criminal Law. This collection of essays is the first dedicated to the topic of critical approaches to international criminal law. It will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of international criminal law, international law, international legal theory, criminal law, and criminology.

This unique textbook provides an accessible introduction to a fascinating subject area. Written with student needs at its heart, innovative features such as 'Counterpoint' and 'Pause for reflection' boxes highlight current debates and areas worthy of more detailed analysis, providing students with the tools they need to develop their knowledge and start thinking critically about the law. Learning outcomes open each chapter, and are complemented by closing summaries to further support student understanding. Structured in four parts, the book first sets out the key international law principles which assume special significance in relation to international criminal law before going on to consider international criminal tribunals, the prosecution of international crimes, and the 'core' international crimes which have been prosecuted to date. Finally, consideration is given to issues such as legal defences and immunities under international law. Written by an outstanding scholar and teacher, this user-friendly text offers a unique approach to the subject area, making it the ideal choice for those new to the subject area. Online Resource Centre This book is accompanied by a free Online Resource Centre hosting links to key international law documents, additional material on the victims of crime, and updates on important developments within the subject area.

This book explores the intended and unintended impact of international criminal justice on the legitimacy of quasi-state entities (QSEs). In order to do so, the concept of ‘quasi-state entity’ is introduced to distinguish actors in statehood conflicts that aspire to statehood, and fulfil statehood functions to a greater or lesser degree, including the capacity and willingness to deploy armed force, but lack the status of sovereign statehood. This work explores the ability of QSEs to create and maintain legitimacy for their actions, institutions and statehood projects in various constituencies simultaneously. It looks at how legitimacy is a prerequisite for success of QSEs and, using critical legitimacy theory, assesses the legitimating narratives of QSEs and their statehood adversaries. The book links international criminal justice to statehood projects of QSEs and their success and legitimacy. It looks at the effects of international criminal justice on the ability to create and maintain legitimacy of QSEs, an approach that leads to new insights regarding international courts and tribunals as entities competing with states over statehood functions that increasingly have to take the legal implications of their actions into consideration. Most important, a close assessment of the legitimising narratives of QSEs, counter narratives, and the messages sent by international criminal justice with which QSEs have to deal, and their ability to overcome legitimacy crises, provides insight on QSEs and the complex processes of legitimation. This book will be of much interest to students of international criminal justice, political violence, security studies and IR.

The proper construction of co-perpetration responsibility in international criminal law has become one of the most enduring controversies in this field, with the UN Tribunals endorsing the theory of joint criminal enterprise, and the International Criminal Court adopting the alternative joint control over the crime theory to define this mode of liability. This book seeks to reconcile the ICTY/R’s and ICC’s jurisprudence by providing a definition of co-perpetration that could be uniformly applied in the two justice models that these institutions represent: the ad hoc- and the treaty-based model. An evaluation framework is adopted, pursuant to which the origins, merits and deficiencies of the said competing theories are critically assessed, and a refined legal framework of co-perpetration responsibility is proposed.

Volume III of the International Criminal Law Practitioner Library provides a critical review of international criminal procedure as practised at the international criminal tribunals. It examines the framework within which substantive international criminal law operates and covers every stage of the proceedings from investigation to trial, appeal, and punishment.

This book provides an essential and critical overview of the most significant issues concerning the domestication of international criminal law, in particular with regard to the implementation of the ICC Statute. It discusses the most recent proposals for reform of the German Code of Crimes under International Law, the "Völkerstrafgesetzbuch", 20 years after its entering into force and introduces the project for an Italian code of international crimes drafted by the Committee of experts established in 2022 by the Ministry of Justice. Following the adoption of the ICC Statute, many States, including Germany with the "Völkerstrafgesetzbuch", introduced specific legislation to incorporate international criminal law into their domestic legal systems and a considerable number of them have been investigating and prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and even aggression ever since. Twenty-five years later, however, the process is not completed as other countries, like Italy, are still working on adopting provisions on international crimes. This book opens with a broad overview of the different approaches of the domestication of international criminal law, with a specific focus on the German and the Italian systems. After an assessment of the prerequisites for the domestic implementation of international criminal law, also from a constitutional law perspective, each chapter offers an in-depth analysis of a specific issue, such as: the definition of international crimes (genocide and crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression); the applicability of and exceptions to the general principles of domestic criminal law; the regulation of individual criminal responsibility; sanctions and sentencing; as well as procedural aspects related to immunities, jurisdiction and prosecutorial discretion. The strong academic perspective of many authors is complemented by an equally strong practitioner perspective of the others, provided by legal scholars in the highest positions in international and national judicial institutions, resulting in a well-informed and critical appraisal of the most recent developments overall in the international criminal justice system. Domesticating International Criminal Law will be of great interest to legal scholars and students, as well as practitioners with an interest in comparative and international law, international criminal law and international relations.

This book deals with sentencing in international criminal law, focusing on the approach of the UN ad hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR). In contrast to sentencing in domestic jurisdictions, and in spite of its growing importance, sentencing law is a part of international criminal law that is still 'under construction' and is unregulated in many aspects. International sentencing law and practice is not yet defined by exact norms and principles and as yet there is no body of international principles concerning the determination of sentence, notwithstanding the huge volume of sentencing research and the extensive modern debate about sentencing principles. Moreover international judges receive very little guidance in sentencing matters: this contributes to inconsistencies and may increase the risk that similar cases will be sentenced in different ways. One purpose of this book is to investigate and evaluate the process of international sentencing, especially as interpreted by the ICTY and the ICTR, and to suggest a more comprehensive and coherent system of guiding principles, which will foster the development of a law of sentencing for international criminal justice. The book discusses the law and jurisprudence of the ad hoc Tribunals, and also presents an empirical analysis of influential factors and other data from ICTY and ICTR sentencing practice, thus offering quantitative support for the doctrinal analysis. This publication is one of the first to be entirely devoted to the process of sentencing in international criminal justice. The book will thus be of great interest to practitioners, academics and students of the subject.