Propaganda And International Criminal Law

This book addresses the conceptual and evidentiary issues relating to the treatment of propaganda in international criminal law. Bringing together an interdisciplinary range of scholars, researchers and legal practitioners from Africa, Australia, Europe and the United States, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the nature, position and role of the concept of propaganda in mass atrocity crimes trials. A sequel to the earlier Propaganda, War Crimes Trials and International Law: From Speakers’ Corner to War Crimes (Routledge, 2011) this book is the first to synthesize the knowledge, procedures and methods of international criminal law with the social cognitive sciences. Including a comprehensive overview of the most relevant case law, jurisprudence and scientific studies, the book also offers a series of practical insights and strategies for both academics and legal professionals. An invaluable resource for those working in the area of international criminal law, this book will also be of interest to academics, practitioners and students with relevant interests in legal theory, politics, linguistics and psychology.

Bereft of any comprehensive analysis and subject to little if any sustained debate, the tangential location of the prohibition of propaganda for war in the discourse of international law has resulted in a situation where state conduct in this area too often appears to be acting in a legal vacuum. In proposing a more robust role for international law in responding to what is a matter of widespread public concern, the book analyses the context in which international law first came to be concerned with propaganda for war in the years following the First World War. With the establishment of the United Nations and the corresponding development of international human rights law, the issue of the prohibition of propaganda for war in both human rights law and international criminal law became a highly significant, yet frequently divisive matter during the Cold War. Drawing on primary materials from the League of Nations to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, this book makes the case for the revitalisation of a provision of international law which can be fundamental to the prevention of war. The book examines international human rights law, the travaux préparatoires to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, communications between the Human Rights Committee and states parties to the Covenant, state practice, and international criminal law. Drawing on the manner by which international tribunals from Nuremberg to The Hague have approached the matter of individual criminal responsibility for 'incitement to crimes of an international dimension', the book proposes that 'direct and public incitement to aggression' be included as a crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

First Published in 2012. Propaganda, War Crimes Trials and International Law addresses the emerging jurisprudence and international law concerning propaganda in war crimes investigations and trials. The role of propaganda in the perpetration of atrocities has emerged as a central theme in the war crimes trials in the past century. The Nuremburg trials initially, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda currently, have all substantially contributed to the development of international law in this respect. Investigating and exploring the areas between lawful and unlawful propaganda, they have dealt with specific mechanisms and consequences of the phenomenon within the perspective and framework of their international legal mandates. But the cultural codes and argots through which propaganda operates have vexed international courts struggling to assign responsibility to the instigators of mass crimes, as subtle, but potentially fatal, communications often remain undetected, misinterpreted or even dismissed as entirely irrelevant. With contributions from leading international scholars and legal practioners, Propaganda, War Crimes Trials and International Law pursues a comparative approach to this problem: providing an overview of the current state of the theory of propaganda in the social sciences; exploring this theory in the legal analysis of war crimes and related proceedings; and, finally, offering a study of the prosecution of propaganda-related crimes in international law, and the newly emerging jurisprudence of war crimes propaganda cases.

"Drawing on primary materials from the League of Nations to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, this book makes the case for the revitalization ofa provision of international law which can be fundamental to the prevention of war.

Michael Kearney analyses the prohibition of propaganda for war in international law and examines the potential of international law to prevent war by proposing that 'direct and public incitement to aggression' be included as a crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

From ancient to modern times, sexualised war violence against women was tolerated if not encouraged as a means of reward, propaganda, humiliation, and terror. This was and is in defiance of international laws that have criminalised acts of sexualised war violence since the 18th century. Ad hoc international tribunals have addressed especially war rape since the 15th century. The International Criminal Court (ICC), however, is the first independent, permanent, international criminal court that recognises not only war rape but also sexual slavery and other sexualised crimes as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and acts of genocide in its statute and supporting documents. This book explores how the ICC definitions of rape and forced marriage came about, and addresses the ongoing challenge of how to define war rape and forced marriage in times of armed conflict in a way that adequately reflects women’s experiences, as well as the nature of the crimes. In addition to deepening the understanding of the ICC negotiations of war rape and forced marriage, and of the crimes themselves, this volume highlights relevant factors that need to be considered when criminalising acts of sexualised war violence under international law. Sexualised Crimes, Armed Conflict and the Law draws on feminist and constructivist theories and offers a comprehensive theoretical and empirical examination of the definition of rape and forced marriage. It presents the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, officials and intergovernmental organisations, and students in the fields of post-conflict law and justice, international law, human rights law, international relations, gender studies, politics, and criminology.

This edited volume presents the most up to date topics of international criminal law and discusses possible future developments of the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court.

Presently, many of the greatest debates and controversies in international criminal law concern modes of liability for international crimes. The state of the law is unclear, to the detriment of accountability for major crimes and of the uniformity of international criminal law. The present book aims at clarifying the state of the law and provides a thorough analysis of the jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals, as well as of the debates and the questions these debates have left open. Renowned international criminal law scholars analyze, in discrete chapters, the modes of liability one by one; for each mode they identify the main trends in the jurisprudence and the main points of controversy. An introduction addresses the cross-cutting issues, and a conclusion anticipates possible evolutions that we may see in the future. The research on which this book is based was undertaken with the Geneva Academy.