Forging a Convention for Crimes against Humanity

This book attempts to complete the Nuremberg legacy by elaborating a specialized draft convention text on crimes against humanity.

Leila Nadya Sadat (Edited by)

9781107676794, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 November 2013

640 pages, 6 b/w illus. 2 maps
23.4 x 15.5 x 3.6 cm, 0.89 kg

'In closing, this is an outstanding and thought provoking work that will be an essential reference to academics, legal scholars, practitioners, human rights advocates and those who are engaged in the study and promotion of international criminal law. For international criminal law scholars especially, it will continue to be an essential tool for years to come.' Hilmi M. Zawati, Journal of International Criminal Justice

Crimes against humanity were one of the three categories of crimes elaborated in the Nuremberg Charter. However, unlike genocide and war crimes, they were never set out in a comprehensive international convention. This book represents an effort to complete the Nuremberg legacy by filling this gap. It contains a complete text of a proposed convention on crimes against humanity in English and in French, a comprehensive history of the proposed convention, and fifteen original papers written by leading experts on international criminal law. The papers contain reflections on various aspects of crimes against humanity, including gender crimes, universal jurisdiction, the history of codification efforts, the responsibility to protect, ethnic cleansing, peace and justice dilemmas, amnesties and immunities, the jurisprudence of the ad hoc tribunals, the definition of the crime in customary international law, the ICC definition, the architecture of international criminal justice, modes of criminal participation, crimes against humanity and terrorism, and the inter-state enforcement regime.

Preface
Foreword - the crimes against humanity initiative
1. Crimes against humanity and the responsibility to protect Gareth Evans
2. History of efforts to codify crimes against humanity: from the charter of Nuremberg to the statute of Rome Roger S. Clark
3. The universal repression of crimes against humanity before national jurisdictions: the need for a treaty-based obligation to prosecute Payam Akhavan
4. Revisiting the architecture of crimes against humanity: almost a century in the making with gaps and ambiguities remaining - the need for a specialized convention M. Cherif Bassiouni
5. The bright red thread: the politics of international criminal law - the West African experience - a case study: operation justice in Sierra Leone David Crane
6. Gender-based crimes against humanity Valerie Oosterveld
7. 'Chapeau elements' of crimes against humanity in the jurisprudence of the United Nations ad hoc tribunals Göran Sluiter
8. The definition of crimes against humanity and the question of a 'policy' element Guénaël Mettraux
9. Ethnic cleansing as euphemism, metaphor, criminology and law John Hagan and Todd J. Haugh
10. Immunities and amnesties Diane Orentlicher
11. Modes of participation Elies van Sliedregt
12. Terrorism and crimes against humanity Michael P. Scharf and Michael A. Newton
13. Crimes against humanity and the international criminal court Kai Ambos
14. Crimes against humanity and the responsibility to protect David Scheffer
15. Re-enforcing enforcement in a specialized convention on crimes against humanity: inter-state cooperation, mutual legal assistance, and the aut dedere aut judicare obligation Laura M. Olson
16. Why the world needs an international convention on crimes against humanity Gregory H. Stanton
Appendice I. International convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity
Appendice II. Convention internationale pour la prévention et la répression des crimes contre l'humanité
Appendice III. A comprehensive history of the international convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.

Subject Areas: International criminal law [LBBZ], International humanitarian law [LBBS], International human rights law [LBBR], Armed conflict [JPWS], Human rights [JPVH]