The Legacy Of Punishment In International Law

This book explores the evolution of international punishment from a natural law-based ground for the use of force and conquest to a series of jurisdictional and disciplinary practices in international law not previously seen as being conceptually related.

This book argues that accountability for extraordinary atrocity crimes should not uncritically adopt the methods and assumptions of ordinary liberal criminal law. Criminal punishment designed for common criminals is a response to mass atrocity and a device to promote justice in its aftermath. This book comes to this conclusion after reviewing the sentencing practices of international, national, and local courts and tribunals that punish atrocity perpetrators. Sentencing practices of these institutions fail to attain the goals that international criminal law ascribes to punishment, in particular retribution and deterrence. Fresh thinking is necessary to confront the collective nature of mass atrocity and the disturbing reality that individual membership in group-based killings is often not maladaptive or deviant behavior but, rather, adaptive or conformist behavior. This book turns to a modern, and adventurously pluralist, application of classical notions of cosmopolitanism to advance the frame of international criminal law to a broader construction of atrocity law and towards an interdisciplinary, contextual, and multicultural conception of justice.

This is the third edition of the pioneering work that has become the standard text in the field. The first edition was one of the earliest to establish that the newly-developing international law of human rights could be set down as any other branch of international law. It also incorporates the complementary fields of international humanitarian law and international criminal law, while addressing the problems associated with their interaction with human rights law. The book is more than a descriptive analysis of the field. It acknowledges areas of unclarity or where developments may be embryonic. Solutions are offered. Recent developments have confirmed the value of solutions proposed in this edition and the previous one. Central to most of the chapters is the human rights norm of most salience in the treatment of prisoners, namely, the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The early chapters focus on the period of first detention, when detainees are most at risk of having information or confessions, however unreliable, extracted by unlawful means. Voices contemplating the legitimacy of such treatment to combat terrorism have been heard in the wake of the atrocities of 11 September 2001. The book finds that the evidence clearly suggests that the absolute prohibition of such treatment remains firm. Other chapters deal with problems of poor prison conditions and of certain extraordinary penalties, notably corporal and capital punishment. A chapter explores ethical codes for members of professions capable of inflicting or preventing the prohibited behaviour (police and medical and legal professionals). Chapters are also devoted to the extreme practice of enforced disappearance and the contribution of the new convention on this phenomenon, as well as to extra-legal executions.

Genocide is acknowledged as 'the crime of crimes'. This book is the product of an encounter between scholars of historical and legal disciplines which have joined forces to address the question of whether the legal concept of genocide still corresponds with the historical and social perception of the phenomenon.

This book explores the promise and limitations of international criminal law as a means of enforcing international human rights and humanitarian law. It analyses the principal crimes, such as genocide and crimes against humanity, and appraises the mechanisms developed to bring individuals to justice.

The most prolific international criminal court to date, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had a broad impact on international law, human rights, the creation of the International Criminal Court, and the rule of law in the former Yugoslavia. In this book a group of leading experts take stock of its performance and legacy.

This book explores the evolution of international punishment from a natural law-based ground for the use of force and conquest to a series of jurisdictional and disciplinary practices in international law not previously seen as being conceptually related.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is one the pioneering experiments in international criminal justice. It has left a rich legal, institutional, and non-judicial legacy. This edited collection provides a broad perspective on the contribution of the tribunal to law, memory, and justice. It explores some of the accomplishments, challenges, and critiques of the ICTY, including its less visible legacies. The book analyses different sites of legacy: the expressive function of the tribunal, its contribution to the framing of facts, events, and narratives of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and investigative and experiential legacies. It also explores lesser known aspects of legal practice (such as defence investigative ethics, judgment drafting, contempt cases against journalists, interpretation and translation), outreach, approaches to punishment and sentencing, the tribunals' impact on domestic legal systems, and ongoing debates over impact and societal reception. The volume combines voices from inside the tribunal with external perspectives to elaborate the rich history of the ICTY, which continues to be written to this day.