This title covers the history, nature, and sources of international criminal law; the ratione personae; ratione materiae - sources of substantive international criminal law; the indirect enforcement system; the direct enforcement system; and much more.

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.

This Introduction to International Criminal Law provides an understandable glimpse into the intricacies of the law. It is valuable to students, practitioners, and members of the general public who are seeking to acquire basic knowledge about the law. It is written by a practitioner of international criminal law who has also frequently taught university courses and given countless public lectures on this subject. The insights provided in this book combine the experience of practice with the communication skills of a seasoned academic. Unlike many other texts by western writers, this author gives special attention to the concerns of audiences in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. International criminal law is presented as part of a strategy for achieving a world characterized by peaceful cooperation and respect for the basic values of human dignity.

Presents theories, practices and critiques alongside each other to engage students, scholars and professionals from multiple fields. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

International criminal law and justice is a flourishing field which has led, in recent years, to new international criminal tribunals and new mechanisms for investigation and holding criminals to account. These developments have, in turn, led to an increasing volume and greater consolidation of case law, and even more scholarly attention. The second edition of this volume of Kai Ambos' seminal treatise has been revised and rewritten in parts to provide coverage of recent developments in the 'Special Part' of international criminal law: namely, the specific crimes and sentencing. Amongst other updates, there are significant extensions of the discussion on sexual and gender-based crimes; the introduction of environmental crimes into international criminal law; further elaboration on the nexus requirement in war crimes and asymmetrical conflicts (e.g., ISIS); and reference to the newly introduced war crimes of the ICC Statute and of the peculiarities of cyber-attacks and other emerging activities. The volume complements Volume I of the treatise on issues relevant to the foundations, general part of international criminal law, and general principles of international criminal justice. Taken together with the other new editions of the three-volume series, this second edition provides an exhaustive guide to every aspect of international criminal law, from fundamental principles to procedures and implementation. Kai Ambos' Treatise remains an indispensable reference work for academics and practitioners of international criminal law.

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.

Volume 2 addresses jurisdiction and the various mechanisms and modalities of international cooperation in penal matters, which for all practical purposes, apply to both the direct and indirect enforcement methods of ICL. These mechanisms and modalities of international cooperation are used not only in bilateral interstate cooperation in penal matters but they are also employed by international tribunals, including the ICC, in their relations with states. This volume is divided into 5 chapters which are titled as: Chapter 1: Policies and Modalities (Modalities of International Cooperation in Penal Matters; The Duty to Prosecute and/or Extradite: Aut Dedere Aut Judicare; Globalization of International Enforcement Mechanisms: The Problem of Legitimacy; Globalization of Law Enforcement and Intelligence Gathering and Sharing); Chapter 2: Jurisdiction (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction; Universal Jurisdiction; Competing and Overlapping Jurisdictions; Immunities and Exceptions; The European Union and the Schengen Agreement); Chapter 3: Extradition (Law and Practice in the United States; The European Approach; Commentary on the United Nations Draft Model Law on Extradition); Chapter 4: Judicial Assistance and Mutual Cooperation in Penal Matters (United States Treaties on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters; Commentary on the United Nations Draft Model Law on Mutual Legal Assistance; Inter-State Cooperation in Penal Matters in the Commonwealth; The Council of Europe and the European Union; European Perspective on International Cooperation in Matters of Terrorism; Freezing and Seizing of Assets: Controlling Money Laundering); Chapter 5: Recognition of Foreign Penal Judgments, Transfer of CriminalProceedings, and Execution of Foreign Penal Sentences (Introduction to Recognition of Foreign Penal Judgments; Introduction to Transfer of Criminal Proceedings; Transfer of Criminal Proceedings: The European System; The Lockerbie Model of Transfer of Proceedings; International Perspective on Transfer of Prisoners and Execution of Foreign Penal Judgments; United States Policies and Practices on the Execution of Foreign Penal Sentences).

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; Victims’ Rights in International Law).

This book provides a critical introduction to the core elements of international criminal law. It does so by provoking thought on what international criminal law is, or could be, by contrasting the practice of widely recognised state-based actors and institutions such as the International Criminal Court with practices associated with non-state actors in particular citizens' tribunals. International criminal law is now established as an essential legal and institutional response to atrocity. However, it faces a series of political and practical challenges. It is vital to consider its limits and potential, as well as the ways and extent to which those limitations might be addressed. Many actors with very different visions of its nature and parameters play a role in shaping the meaning of international criminal law whether that be in official or unofficial spaces. This book explores the principles and institutions of international criminal law alongside the alternative visions of it put forward by citizens' tribunals. In so doing it encourages reflection on that law's multiple meanings and usages in order to provoke consideration of what it means, and might mean, to deploy international criminal law today.

In the past twenty years, international criminal law has become one of the main areas of international legal scholarship and practice. Most textbooks in the field describe the evolution of international criminal tribunals, the elements of the core international crimes, the applicable modes of liability and defences, and the role of states in prosecuting international crimes. The Oxford Handbook of International Criminal Law, however, takes a theoretically informed and refreshingly critical look at the most controversial issues in international criminal law, challenging prevailing practices, orthodoxies, and received wisdoms. Some of the contributions to the Handbook come from scholars within the field, but many come from outside of international criminal law, or indeed from outside law itself. The chapters are grounded in history, geography, philosophy, and international relations. The result is a Handbook that expands the discipline and should fundamentally alter how international criminal law is understood.