International Criminal Law

Catalog description

The Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals convened after World War II not only looked back at the atrocities committed in that war, they also reflected a belief that perpetrators of future atrocities must be held accountable. While such crimes continue to be committed, the odds against impunity and in favor of accountability have dramatically improved. This course will assess the international institutions and laws that impose individual criminal liability. We will discuss the major international crimes as defined by the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and aggression. We also discuss the crime of torture?both as a constituent crime under war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity? and as an international crime in its own right. Finally, given the current global situation, we will address terrorism. While terrorism is not a crime fully defined under international law we will discuss how terrorist acts can and have been prosecuted alongside the other major international crimes and in international tribunals. Throughout the course, we will explore how international crimes and the institutions that enforce them mesh with the substance and institutions of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict).