Opens with a consideration of the social, economic and historical context of criminal law before examining the principles that form the basis of criminal law in Australia. Case studies of important decisions influencing the development of the law are included and interesting issues are highlighted.

Drawing from the existing theoretical literature and adding to it recent insights from the social sciences, Paul Robinson describes the nature of the practical challenge in setting rational punishment principles, how past efforts have failed, and the alternatives that have been tried.

Principles of International Criminal Law is one of the leading textbooks in the field. This third edition builds on the highly-successful work of the previous editions, setting out the general principles governing international crimes as well as the fundamentals of both substantive and procedural international criminal law.