Legal initiatives to prevent genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity have considerable shortcomings in dealing with victims of international crimes. Transcending the disciplinary divisions in the study of victims of international crimes is the main focus of this first volume of essays contributing to developing victimological approaches to international crimes. Focusing on the African continent, scholars from different disciplines review the similarities and differences between victims of ordinary crimes and those of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

This book explores a range of issues related to the development, application and enforcement of international criminal justice within Africa and on Africa. Written by experts from Africa, and adopting African perspectives, this book seeks to understand the scope and reach of these issues, nationally, regionally and globally. Africa's Role and Contribution to International Criminal Justice engages in theoretical and policy discourses on the substantive and procedural features of criminal law and justice in the African context. A range of topical issues are examined by the contributors, such as the ways in which African states have dealt with issues of universal jurisdiction and how victims are treated, as well as controversial questions concerning how courts function and should function in dealing with these issues. The ideas, themes, institutions, practices, concepts and patterns of convergence of criminal justice systems in Africa are also explored. This book aims to establish a greater understanding of international criminal justice and its relation to Africa, and beyond. Further, it seeks to expand the conversation beyond the narrow topics that are so commonly discussed when matters of African criminal justice are considered. PROF DR JEREMY SARKIN is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal) and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State (South Africa). DR ELLAH T. M. SIANG'ANDU is Lecturer and Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Zambia and Research Fellow at the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (SAIPAR).

It is often assumed that the independence of a criminal court is synonymous with the impartiality of judges. However, discussions around the independence of the International Criminal Court are, in most cases, about the Court as an institution and about the work of the Office of the Prosecutor. The Independence of the International Criminal Court: Between a Rock and a Hard Place focuses on understanding the different competing narratives which defend and critique the Court's 'institutional' independence and legitimacy, and particularly its relationship with Africa. Critical discourse analysis techniques are used to capture the way in which language is used to express the collective power capable of influencing the policies of the Court. 'In assessing the ICC's independence and legitimacy, Alphonse Muleefu is scrupulously even-handed in weighing the claims of the Court's supporters and critics. The book's dialogical approach enables a deep understanding of how the ICC views its role in addressing mass crimes and why the Court's critics - especially in Africa - are so concerned about its impact across the continent. This book is nuanced, thorough and essential reading for anyone trying to fathom where the ICC finds itself 17 years into its existence. 'Dr Phil Clark, SOAS University of London' The Independence of the International Criminal Court: Between A Rock and A Hard Place" provides a tremendously vivid and fascinating study of politics in action. By analysing the public speeches and written texts that mark critical moments in the court's history the book offers a desperately needed analysis of the place of politics in the life of the law. Alphonse captures beautifully various key discourses and sets them side-by-side forcing us to contend with the difficulties of the ICC's relationship with Africa and their implications for understanding law in an uneven world. He also turns us to the crude realities of that world as seen in the spoken and written word highlighting how the key challenge of twenty-first century justice analysis is not only what is done and what is said but also how those things are seen. A refreshing account of the complex dynamics of discourse. A must read. 'Prof. Kamari M. Clarke, The University of California, Los Angeles.

Extended Confiscation in Criminal Law provides a comprehensive analysis of the most recent developments in the field. With its main focus on the EU, this multi-faceted study enhances the reader's understanding of the strategy of confiscating assets, giving detailed answers to the questions of how the confiscation regimes could be improved and which changes are proportionate to the objectives pursued. The book begins by examining extended confiscation from the national perspective, presenting the substantive criteria for this power of confiscation. It focuses on three main jurisdictions - England and Wales, Germany and Sweden - and explores how domestic legislation is drafted and applied in their differing models. Analysing Directive 2014/42/EU on the Freezing and Confiscation of Instrumentalities and Proceeds of Crime in the European Union, it seeks to answer the questions of whether harmonisation truly increases efficiency or if other reforms may be more effectively. Furthermore, this book considers whether increased powers of extended confiscation strike the right balance between the interest of law enforcement and the protection of fundamental human rights. The notion of extended confiscation is then set in its broader context, looking from an international perspective. A holistic analysis of the regime for handling transnational confiscation cases is given, asking if it is possible to trace and search for assets abroad, or execute final orders in other states. This book is of great interest for academics as well as national and international legislators. It may also be used as a handbook for practitioners handling cross-border confiscation cases. DR MALIN THUNBERG SCHUNKE is an Associate Professor in Criminal Law at the University of Uppsala. She holds an LLD in Criminal Law (Uppsala University) and an LLM in Criminology and Criminal Justice (King's College, London). Her research interests lie in national and international criminal law, particularly EU judicial cooperation in criminal matters and human rights. She has been an Apprentice Judge at Stockholm City Court and has been working for several years as an Assistant Prosecutor at the Prosecuting Office Stockholm. 2Intersentia

Although rooted in a similar ideal, human rights (IHRL), international criminal law (ICL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) are separate fields of law, best represented as circles, each of which overlaps with the other two. However human rights often seems to absorb the other two, while in other situations, the lines between human rights law and its next door neighbours are blurred or contested. This volume consists of three main parts. The first main part explores the convergences and divergences between IHL and/or IHRL on the one hand, and ICL stricto sensu on the other hand. The second part investigates the convergences and divergences between IHRL and transnational crimes, or ICL in the broader sense, which suppresses crimes such as drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and corruption through international treaties providing for domestic enforcement. The last main part of this volume provides the reader with novel and original insights as to how IHRL and IHL converge and diverge by considering if and how the norms of other branches of international law come into play and how the European Court of Human Rights has engaged with the sometimes contradicting norms of IHL. It furthermore analyses the relationship between the specific IHL and IHRL norms which prohibit arbitrary displacement and maps their interaction. Finally, the effectiveness of States' investigations of war crimes committed by their armed forces is evaluated by emphasising attention to the relevant standards developed within IHRL, since IHL does not indicate specific criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of an investigation.

A non-democratic system of government is an important risk factor for the perpetration of atrocity crimes, meaning genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. At the 2005 World Summit the international community accepted the responsibility to protect populations from these crimes when the domestic state is failing to do so. The implementation of the responsibility to protect, however, leaves much to be desired. This book studies the role dictators play in orchestrating mass atrocities and analyses their decision-making process when the international community tries to stop or mitigate the perpetration of these crimes. Through a comparative case study of Pol Pot and Slobodan Milosevic it argues that the role ideology plays in the decision-making process of the dictator is an important determinant of their responsiveness. In doing so, it challenges the common notion that all dictators are primarily motivated by retaining their position of power and argues that while dictators are frequently characterised as raging mad men, this is not necessarily always the case. It rather argues in favour of a more nuanced approach to rationality, that uses the work of Max Weber to acknowledge that different types of rationality exist, when analysing the decision-making process of dictators. The book is therefore an indispensable resource for scholars who are interested in the role of dictators in bringing forth and stopping mass atrocities and for anyone who wants more insight into the rationality of dictators.Maartje Weerdesteijn is an interdisciplinary scholar and lecturer at Utrecht University. She holds a bachelor from Maastricht University and a master from VU University Amsterdam where she worked for several years as a lecturer. She conducted her PhD research at Tilburg University and published in renowned international journals, including Politics and Governance, International Criminal Law Review and Genocide Studies and Prevention.

The dynamics of enforcing international criminal justice through the International Criminal Court (ICC) has become a challenging exercise in Africa. At times the uneasy relationship between the ICC, the African Union and a few influential African states has given rise to concerns about the future of international criminal justice in general, and in Africa in particular. Still, the enthusiasts for international criminal justice as enforced by the ICC, interpret the challenges that the ICC is encountering in Africa as part of the growing pains of a new institution in the international system. The distractors have already prepared the ICC's obituary. One of the criticisms levelled against the ICC, and which is the motivation for, and central theme behind, this book is that it has morphed and ceased to be an independent legal institution instead becoming a political tool utilised by politically powerful states in the West against their political opponents in Africa. More specifically the Court is alleged to be selectively enforcing international criminal law by merely officially opening investigations and prosecutions in Africa. Although this book recognises that selective implementation of criminal justice is acceptable both at the domestic and international level, it analyses the legal and political factors behind the Court's focus on international crimes committed in Africa when there are other situations to which the court should potentially turn its attention, such as in Syria, Afghanistan or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The book seeks to determine whether such a focus implies that Africa has the monopoly over international crimes or whether African victims or perpetrators are any different from those in the Middle East? In addition the book attempts to uncover the basis and the validity of the African Union and some African states' criticisms of the ICC. James Nyawo holds a Doctorate from the School of Law at Middlesex University, UK. He previously held the position of Visiting Lecturer with the Department of International & Cooperative Law at Khartoum University, Sudan and is currently an External Research Fellow at the International Victimology Institute (INTERVICT), Tilburg, Netherlands. He has worked as a humanitarian practitioner and consultant with national, international and UN agencies working with landmine victims, internally displaced persons and refugees in Angola, Uganda (North), South Sudan and Sudan.

This book offers an overview of the challenges in the emerging regime of international criminal justice as a tool of sustainable peace. It illustrates the impact of the regime on international law and international relations, focusing on the obstacles to and concerns of its governance in the context of the maintenance and restoration of international peace and security. The author advocates for an appropriate interaction strategy between the United Nations and the Rome Statute institutions as a matter of international mutual concern and for the sake of human security. In multiple and inter-linked country situations the failure of strategies to prevent mass atrocity crimes have severely compromised the safety of civilians, including their individual fundamental rights. In several countries - such as in Libya, Syria, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast and Mali - civilians have severely suffered the consequences of such failure. Furthermore, the right of humanitarian intervention that it is sometimes claimed the international community has is now challenged and qualified by the responsibility to protect civilians in situations of mass atrocity crimes.Such an international norm represents unfinished business in global politics and is considered by many to be far from capable of preserving the rule of international law. The preservation of the rule of law requires discussions and the advocacy of global values in international relations, such as multilateralism, collective responsibility, global solidarity and mutual accountability.About the authorAndrea Marrone's areas of expertise cover international law and international relations, law of international organisations, European policy, law and institutions, international governance and global affairs. In previous years he has addressed EU institutions to provide recommendations to the decision-making bodies on programming activities in fragile States and conflict-affected country situations, enabling development and capacity-building in the context of the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The chequered history of the criminalisation of aggression as a crime under international law has reached an important milestone with the adoption of the Kampala Resolution on the Crime of Aggression (2010). This resolution provides for the definition of the crime of aggression to be included in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as for conditions for the exercise of ICC jurisdiction over the crime. The second edition of this volume contains an overview and discussion of the historical and normative processes (legal and political) that culminated in the adoption of the Kampala Resolution. The different components of the resolution are critically assessed against the background of the various political and legal responses to aggression, while taking into account contemporary developments in the field of international criminal law. The volume is primarily but not exclusively concerned with the crime of aggression under the Rome Statute. It also includes a chapter on national and regional criminal justice responses to aggression, notably developments concerning the amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, which also provides for the criminalisation of aggression.About the first edition'A successful attempt to provide a working definition of the crime of aggression and the conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC thereon. At the same time, it purports to trace the historical development of the norm of aggression and analyse the problematic issues concerning its definition. Using accessible style and language, the author correctly grasps the need for a two-sided approach to aggression, from the point of view of states, as well as of individual criminal responsibility, and touches upon the critical issue of the connection between maintenance of international peace and security and international criminal justice. [...]the book provides a thorough and concise analysis of the elements of aggression, one of the most controversial crimes in international criminal law and pinpoints its place in the complex scheme of interplay between collective security and international criminal justice. [...] the value of the present title lies in its contribution to the ongoing debate on the interrelation between state and individual responsibility for international crimes - a debate that seems far from being settled.'Irena Giorgou in 2012 JICJ 712