How has the International Criminal Court been able to evolve into a fairly effective, albeit relatively untested multi-level model of global governance? This volume explores this question and the novel predicament it represents for understanding the challenges of extending global governance and promoting global justice.

A universal criminal court : the emergence of an idea -- The global civil society campaign -- The victory : the independent prosecutor -- The defeat : no universal jurisdiction -- The controversy : gender and forced pregnancy -- The missed chance : banning weapons -- A global civil society achievement : why rejoice?

This book focuses on the evolving relationship between China and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It examines the substantive issues that have restricted China’s engagement with the ICC to date, and provides a comprehensive assessment of whether these Chinese concerns still constitute a significant impediment to China’s accession to the ICC in the years to come. The book places the China-ICC relationship within the wider context of China’s interactions with international judicial bodies, and uses the ICC as an example to reflect China’s engagement with international institutions and global governance in general. It seeks to offer a thought-provoking resource to international law and international relations scholars, legal practitioners, government legal advisers, and policy-makers about the nature, scope, and consequences of the relationship between China and the ICC, as well as its impact on both global governance and order. This book is the first of its kind to explore China’s engagement with the ICC primarily from a legal perspective.

Assessing the formation process of the International Criminal Court (ICC), this study provides a fuller and richer understanding of this institution. It does so by adopting three analytical approaches: neoliberal institutionalism, regime theory and global governance. Examining the implications of the ICC, the volume draws conclusions about the changing nature of world politics in terms of conflict management, authority, governance and actor relevance. It is highly suitable for courses and research in humanitarian and international law, international relations theory, globalization, global governance and regime formation.

The space occupied by international law in shaping political action is subject to continuing debate and controversy. This book aims to answer the question of how and why international law impacts the behaviour of actors on the international stage in the absence of central authority and faced with asymmetric power. At a time when the role of normative restraints in international relations, and international law in particular, has come under renewed questioning, it advances an analytical framework for understanding the effect of norms on behaviour that is not contingent on material restraints or a given political constellation, while being informed by the practical realities and practice of international organisation. In doing so, this book draws on an interdisciplinary range of sources, including international law, political theory, cognitive psychology and behavioural economics to explore a communicative action-based approach of how norms and ideas persuade actors to engage in a course of action consonant with international law to achieve a particular outcome. In probing the role of norms on questions such as the use of force and accountability, and issues of equity and justice, it examines the challenges international law faces and what the way forward may look like.

This book analyses the impact of globalization of crime on the governance capacity of the international criminal justice system. It explores how the perceived increased risk in global security has resulted in a reformulation of the relationship between crime and governance. It also discusses a way forward for the governance capacity of international criminal justice, explores the dependence of global governance on crime and control, and analyses case-studies.

This book is about the International Criminal Court (ICC), a new and highly distinctive criminal justice institution with the ability to prosecute the highest-level government officials, including heads of state, even in countries that have not accepted its jurisdiction. The book explores the historical development of international criminal law and the formal legal structure created by the Rome Statute, against the background of the Court’s search for objectivity in a political global environment. The book reviews the operations of the Court in practice and the Court’s position in the power politics of the international system. It discusses and clarifies all stages of an international criminal proceeding from the opening of the investigation to sentencing, reparations, and final appeals in the context of its restorative justice mission. Making appropriate comparisons and contrasts between the international criminal justice system and domestic and national systems, the book fills a gap in international criminal justice study.