What is international criminal law? --International jurisdiction -- Domestic jurisdiction -- Hybrid justice institutions -- The International Criminal Court -- The legal regulation of armed conflict -- War crimes -- Aggression -- Genocide -- Crimes against humanity -- Torture -- Terrorism -- Charging international crimes -- The responsibility of superiors -- Direct and indirect responsibility -- Inchoate crimes : conspiracy & incitement -- Defenses under international criminal law -- Sentencing & reparations.
This book situates the war in Syria within the actual and imagined system of international criminal justice. It explores the legal impediments and diplomatic challenges that have led to the fatal trinity that is Syria: the massive commission of international crimes that are subject to detailed investigations and documentation but whose perpetrators have enjoyed virtually complete impunity. The book tracks a number of accountability solutions to this tragic state of affairs that are being explored within multilateral gatherings, by states, and by civil society actors, including innovations of institutional design; the reactivation of a range of domestic jurisdictional principles (including universal jurisdiction in Europe); the emergence of creative investigative and documentation techniques, technologies, and organizations; and the rejection of state consent as a precondition for the exercise of jurisdiction. Engaging both law and policy around international justice, the text offers a set of justice blueprints, within and without the International Criminal Court. It also considers the utility, propriety, and practicality of establishing an ad hoc tribunal and pursuing a transitional justice program without a genuine political transition. All told, the book attempts to capture the creative energy radiating from members of the international community intent on advancing the accountability norm in Syria even in the face of geopolitical blockages within the U.N. Security Council. In so doing, it presents the range of juridical measures - both criminal and civil - that are available to the international community to respond to the crisis, if only the political will existed.
A concise history of international criminal law -- Sovereignty, jurisdiction, and power -- The making of international criminal law -- The internationalization of crimes -- The principle of legality in international criminal law -- The legal regulation of war -- The crimes of terrorism -- Genocide and crimes against humanity -- Immunities, amnesties, and excuses -- Forms of individual responsibility -- International criminal law and its alternatives: truth, justice, reconciliation, and memory