International Criminal Court launches. On April 11th 2002, ten governments ratified the statute of the International Criminal Court, bringing the total number of ratifications to 66, well above the 60 needed to launch the court. With this milestone, the treaty will take effect July 1, and the court should be up and running within a year. This is a historic moment for the cause of human rights and international justice.
The ICC will be the first standing court of its kind, a permanent international criminal tribunal with potentially global reach to try individuals responsible for the most serious human rights crimes: genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity such as systematic torture, enforced disappearance, or rape. This book aims to assess the subject matter jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and to explore the borderlines of judicial interpretation. In due course, the definitions of the crimes included in the Rome Statute are to be interpreted by the Court on the basis of a Statutory provision containing a principle fundamental to most national criminal laws: nullum crimen sine lege.
However, does this principle apply in international law in the same way as it does in national laws? And how should the Court deal with this principle in view of the character of the crimes concerned? The author offers a complete overview of the statute and the work of the International Criminal Court. Definitions, standards, outcomes, etc. are put into context and supported by a detailed table of contents, index and bibliography. A must for the libraries of individuals and institutions alike.
