As international criminal justice has grown in prominence, so have the challenges facing it. This book discusses the unresolved questions and dilemmas confronted by international war crimes courts. These include the controversies surrounding prosecutorial policy, the tension between peace and justice, and accusations of victor's justice.

Abusive leaders are now held accountable for their crimes in a way that was unimaginable just a few decades ago. What are the consequences of this recent push for international justice? In The Justice Dilemma, Daniel Krcmaric explains why the "golden parachute" of exile is no longer an attractive retirement option for oppressive rulers. He argues that this is both a blessing and a curse: leaders culpable for atrocity crimes fight longer civil wars because they lack good exit options, but the threat of international prosecution deters some leaders from committing atrocities in the first place. The Justice Dilemma therefore diagnoses an inherent tension between conflict resolution and atrocity prevention, two of the signature goals of the international community. Krcmaric also sheds light on several important puzzles in world politics. Why do some rulers choose to fight until they are killed or captured? Why not simply save oneself by going into exile? Why do some civil conflicts last so much longer than others? Why has state-sponsored violence against civilians fallen in recent years? While exploring these questions, Krcmaric marshals statistical evidence on patterns of exile, civil war duration, and mass atrocity onset. He also reconstructs the decision-making processes of embattled leaders—including Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Charles Taylor of Liberia, and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso—to show how contemporary international justice both deters atrocities and prolongs conflicts.

Detailed study of the ICC's practice in prosecuting gender-based crimes, current up to the ICC Statute's twentieth anniversary in 2018.

Atrocity. Genocide. War crime. Crime Against Humanity. Such atrocity labels have been popularized among international lawmakers but with little insight offered into how and when these terms are applied and to what effect. What constitutes an event to be termed a genocide or war crime and what role does this play in the application of legal proceedings? Markus P. Beham, through an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, unpicks these terms to uncover their historical genesis and their implications for international criminal law initiatives concerned with atrocity. The book uniquely compares four specific case studies: Belgian colonial exploitation of the Congo, atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama in German South-West Africa, the Armenian genocide and the man-made Ukrainian famine of the 1930s. Encompassing international law, legal history, and discourse analysis, the concept of 'atrocity labelling' is used to capture the meaning underlying the work of international lawyers and prosecutors, historians and sociologists, agenda setters and policy makers.

This book offers a unique and powerful critique of the quest for international criminal justice. It explores the efforts of three successive generations of international prosecutors, recognising the vital roles they play in the enforcement of international criminal law. By critically examining prosecutorial performance during the pre-trial and trial phases, the volume argues that these prosecutors are simultaneously political actors serving in the interests of economic liberalisation. It also posits that international prosecutors help wage a mostly silent and largely unacknowledged politico-cultural war fought for control over the institutions governing modernist international affairs. As the author contends, international prosecutors are thus best understood as agents not only of the law and politics, but also of a war fought by proponents of various utopian projects.

Acts of repetition abound in international law. Security Council Resolutions typically start by recalling, recollecting, recognising or reaffirming previous resolutions. Expert committees present restatements of international law. Students and staff extensively rehearse fictitious cases in presentations for moot court competitions. Customary law exists by virtue of repeated behaviour and restatements about the existence of rules. When sources of international law are deployed, historically contingent events are turned into manifestations of pre-given and repeatable categories. This book studies the workings of repetition across six discourses and practices in international law. It links acts of repetition to similar practices in religion, theatre, film and commerce. Building on the dialectics of repetition as set out by Søren Kierkegaard, it examines how repetition in international law is used to connect concrete practices to something that is bound to remain absent, unspeakable or unimaginable.

M. Cherif Bassiouni / Human rights and international criminal justice in the twenty first century : the end of the post-WWII phase and the beginning of an uncertain new era -- Thomas A. Cromwell and Bruno Gélinas-Faucher, William Schabas / The Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms, and international human rights law -- Emmanuel Decaux / The International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a victim-oriented treaty --Kathleen Cavanaugh and Joshua Castellino / The politics of sectarianism and its reflection in questions of international law & state formation in The Middle East -- Sandra L. Babcock / International law and the death penalty : a toothless tiger, or a meaningful force for change? -- Marc Bossuyt / The UN optional protocol on the abolition of the death penalty --Christof Heyns and Thomas Probert and Tess Borden / The right to life and the progressive abolition of the death penalty -- Zhao Bingzhi / Progress and trend of the reform of the death penalty in China -- Margaret M. DeGuzman / Criminal law philosophy in international criminal law scholarship -- Frédéric Mégret / Is the ICC focusing too much on non-state actors? -- Shane Darcy / The principle of legality at the crossroads of human rights and international criminal law -- Alain Pellet / Revisiting the sources of applicable law before the ICC -- Mireille Delmas-Marty / The ICC as a work in progress, for a world in process -- Carsten Stahn / Legacy in international criminal justice -- Andrew Clapham and Paola Gaeta / Torture by private actors and 'gold plating' the offence in national law : an exchange of emails in honour of William Schabas -- Hirad Abtahi and Philippa Webb / Secrets and surprises in the Travaux préparatoires of the genocide convention -- Jérémie Gilbert / Perspectives on cultural genocide : from criminal law to cultural diversity -- Beth Van Schaack / Crimes against humanity : repairing Title 18's blind spots -- Leila Nadya Sadat / A new global treaty on crimes against humanity : future prospects -- Mark A. Drumbl / Justice outside of criminal courtrooms and jailhouses -- Charles Chernor Jalloh / Toward greater synergy between courts and truth commissions in post-conflict contexts : lessons from Sierra Leone -- Geoffrey Nice and Nevenka Tromp / Criminal trial as a tool to control historical narrative -- Mary Ellen O'Connell / The arc toward justice and peace -- Adama Dieng / The maintenance of international peace and security through prevention of atrocity crimes : the question of co-operation between the UN and regional arrangements -- Emma Sandon / Law and film : curating rights cinema -- Wayne Jordash / The role of advocates in developing international law -- Diane Marie Amann / Bill the blogger