International Criminal Law And Philosophy

This first edition of Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Correlating Thinkers contains 20 chapters about renowned thinkers from Plato to Foucault. As the first volume in the series "Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law", the book identifies leading philosophers and thinkers in the history of philosophy or ideas whose writings bear on the foundations of the discipline of international criminal law, and then correlates their writings with international criminal law.

This is the first anthology to bring together legal and philosophical theorists to examine the normative and conceptual foundations of international criminal law.

In the last two decades, the philosophy of criminal law has undergone a vibrant revival in Canada. The adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has given the Supreme Court of Canada unprecedented latitude to engage with principles of legal, moral, and political philosophy when elaborating its criminal law jurisprudence. Canadian scholars have followed suit by paying increased attention to the philosophical foundations of domestic criminal law. Because of Canada's leadership in international criminal law, both at the level of the International Criminal Court and of specific war crimes tribunals, they have also begun to turn their attention to international criminal law per se. This collection seeks to bring all these Canadian voices together for the first time, and evidence the fact that criminal law theory is no longer to be associated exclusively with the older British, German and American traditions. The topics covered include questions of philosophical methodology, the legitimate scope of domestic and international criminalization, rationales for criminal law defences in both domestic and international law, the philosophical underpinnings of specific crimes and forms of joint responsibility, as well as the theorization of criminal procedure and evidence law. ENDORSEMENTS "In continental Europe, academic commentary on the criminal law has long manifested large philosophical ambitions. Less so in common-law countries, where the dominance of jury trial and the piecemeal development of case-law, together with the famously robust attitudes of common lawyers, have militated against detailed philosophical engagement with doctrine. Over the last 20 years or so, however, new generations of philosophically-literate lawyers and legally-informed philosophers have overcome the historic resistance. Nowhere more so, it seems, than in Canada, where the common law and civilian traditions meet. In 'Rethinking Criminal Law Theory', François Tanguay-Renaud and James Stribopoulos have joined with 14 talented Canadian colleagues to showcase the tremendous breadth and depth of their contemporary national contribution to the subject. Ranging across topics as diverse as emergency, obscenity, and insanity, these essays - without exception insightful and penetrating -set a high standard for the rest of us to aspire to.'' John Gardner, University of Oxford "'Rethinking Criminal Law Theory' is an excellent collection of essays demonstrating the vigour, creativity and range of Canadian criminal justice scholarship. It covers a wide range of problems and issues both in the domestic and the international context. Core questions are examined in depth and new questions are brought to the fore. I recommend it very highly to criminal lawyers and philosophers of the criminal law." Professor Victor Tadros, University of Warwick "'Rethinking Criminal Law Theory 'is packed with outstanding contributions from criminal law theorists who are among the best not only in Canada, but in the whole English-speaking world. Broad and deep in its coverage, the collection offers fresh approaches to a wide range of cutting-edge issues in the field. It provides a resource readers will come back to repeatedly." Stuart Green, Professor of Law and Justice Nathan L Jacobs Scholar, Rutgers University

International law has recently emerged as the subject-matter of an exciting new field of philosophical investigation. The Philosophy of International Law contains 29 cutting-edge essays by leading philosophers and international lawyers, all published here in English for the first time, that address the central philosophical questions about international law. The volume's overarching theme is the moral and political values that should guide the assessment and development of international law and institutions. Some of the essays tackle general topics such as the sources and legitimacy of international law, the nature of international legal adjudication, whether international law can or should aspire to be 'democratic', and the significance of state sovereignty. The other contributions address philosophical problems arising in specific domains of international law, such as human rights law, international economic law, international criminal law, international environmental law, and the laws of war. This volume is the most up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of the philosophy of international law in existence. It is also distinguished by its 'dialogical' methodology: there are two essays on each topic, with the second author engaging with the arguments of the first. It is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the nature and value of international law.

Two central questions are at the core of international legal theory: 'What is international law?', and 'Is international law really law?' This volume examines these critical questions and the philosophical foundations of modern international law using the tools of Anglo-American legal theory and western political thought. Engaging with both contemporary and historical legal theory and with an analysis of international law in action, the book builds an understanding and theory of law from the perspective of those who actually use this legal system and understand it, rather than constructing an artificial system from the standpoint of political scientists and moral philosophers. Law at the Vanishing Point provides a fascinating new challenge to those who reduce international law either to ethics or to politics and provides a critical new appraisal of its power as an independent force in human social relations.

This second volume in the series 'Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law' zooms in on some of the foundational concepts or principles of the discipline of international criminal law, with a view to exploring their Hinterland beyond the traditional doctrinal discourse. It contains eight chapters on concepts such as sovereignty, global criminal justice, international criminal responsibility for individuals, punishment, impunity and truth. Among the authors in this book are Christoph Burchard, Christopher B. Mahony, Milinda Banerjee, CHAO Yi, Javier Dondé-Matute, Barrie Sander, Max Pensky and Shannon E. Fyfe. The first volume in the series - Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Correlating Thinkers - correlates the writings of leading philosophers with international criminal law, including chapters on Plato, Cicero, Ulpian, Aquinas, Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Vattel, Kant, Bentham, Hegel, Durkheim, Gandhi, Kelsen, Wittgenstein, Lemkin, Arendt and Foucault. A third volume - Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Legally Protected Interests - discusses the main values protected by the discipline and which should be added. These books do not develop or promote a particular philosophy or theory of international criminal law. Rather, they see philosophy of international criminal law as a discourse space, which includes a) correlational or historical, b) conceptual or analytical, and c) interest- or value-based approaches.

This volume is a new chapter in the future history of law. Its general perspective could not be more original and its critical ethical edge on the state of international law could not be timelier. It explores a compassionate philosophical approach to the genuine substance of law, criminal procedure, international criminal law and international criminal justice. It divides law into three interrelated disciplines, i.e. legality, morality and love. The norm love is derived from human reason for man’s advancement and the securing of natural law. It is more than a mere mandatory norm. Its goal is to generate a normative and positive, powerful result, therefore avoiding any impurity that may exist in the application of other norms because of political or juridical pressures - a one-eyed justice. The norm love also renders justice with the principles of legal accountability, transparency and the high moral, authentic values of humanity. The notion of justice cannot be trusted in the absence of the norm love. The volume indicates the conditions of its efficiency by proving the reasons for its existence in the context of fairness, objectivity and concern for all individuals and entities. The concept of the norm love should be the core academic corpus for lecturing law in all faculties of law. It is simply the enlightenment of the 21st century. A lawyer with requisite knowledge and skill is not a lawyer if he cannot understand that the law does not need a lawyer with ethical competence in its provisions for income purposes but one with knowledge of its essence for the advanced morality of justice and the sheer essence of love for justice.