International Prosecution of Human Rights Crimes

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-VIII

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2. Fundamental Questions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Protection of Human Rights by Means of Criminal Law: On the Relationship between Criminal Law and Politics

      • Jörg Arnold

      Pages 3-12

   3. Global Constitutional Struggles: Human Rights between colère publique and colère politique

      • Andreas Fischer-Lescano

      Pages 13-27

   4. The Future of Universal Jurisdiction

      • Peter Weiss

      Pages 29-36

   5. On the Aims and Actual Consequences of International Prosecution of Human Rights Crimes

      • Peer Stolle, Tobias Singelnstein

      Pages 37-52

3. Developments in Law and Practice

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 53-53

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   2. Prosecuting International Crimes at the National and International Level: Between Justice and Realpolitik

      • Kai Ambos

      Pages 55-68

   3. Addressing the Relationship between State Immunity and Jus Cogens Norms: A Comparative Assessment

      • Lorna McGregor

      Pages 69-84

   4. Universal Jurisdiction: Developing and Implementing an Effective Global Strategy

      • Christopher Keith Hall

      Pages 85-92

   5. German International Criminal Law in Practice: From Leipzig to Karlsruhe

      • Wolfgang Kaleck

      Pages 93-112

   6. The Pinochet Effect and the Spanish Contribution to Universal Jurisdiction

      • Naomi Roht-Arriaza

      Pages 113-123

   7. Implementing the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction in France

      • Jeanne Sulzer

      Pages 125-137

   8. The Political Funeral Procession for the Belgian UJ Statute

      • Michael Verhaeghe

      Pages 139-147

   9. The Approach of the United Kingdom to Crimes under International Law: The Application of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

      • Carla Ferstman

      Pages 149-158

   10. Coming to Terms with Genocide in Rwanda: The Role of International and National Justice

       • Dieter Magsam

       Pages 159-165

4. The “War on Terror” in Particular

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 167-167

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   2. Military Necessity, Torture, and the Criminality of Lawyers

      • Scott Horton

      Pages 169-183

   3. The Prohibition of Torture: Absolute Means Absolute

      • Nigel S. Rodley

      Pages 185-200

   4. Litigating Guantánamo

      • Michael Ratner

      Pages 201-211

1 In his separate opinion in the Nuclear Weapons case, Judge Mohammed Bed- oui, then the President of the International Court of Justice, called nuclear we- ons “the absolute evil. ” There are a few other things which merit being called - solutely evil. They are the predicates of the International Criminal Court and of various domestic laws patterned on the Rome Statute: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression. A conference organized by the Berlin-based Republikanischer Anwältinnen- und Anwälteverein (Republican Lawyers As- ciation) and the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights was held in Berlin in June 2005 under the title Globalverfassung versus Realpolitik (Global Constitution versus Realpolitik). It dealt with the tension between these univ- sally accepted norms and the actual practice of governments in an age charact- ized by the ill-defined concept of the “war on terror. ” This book is the outcome of that conference. It is intended for a wide variety of readers: academics, all kinds of jurists, as well as human rights activists, who sometimes know more about the applicable law than the legal experts. It owes its existence to a paradox: On the one hand, new structures for dealing with the most serious international crimes are being put into place.

• Crimes Against Humanity
• Immunity
• International Criminal Court
• International Criminal Law
• Rwanda
• Universal Jurisdiction
• War Crimes

From the reviews:

"The volume is a collection of essays that investigate current developments in the prosecution of human rights crimes on the national and international levels. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." (E. W. Webking, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (2), 2007)

"A timely and informative book that aims to assist a wide variety of readers interested in this area of law: academics, jurists, practitioners and human rights activists. … The book contains very interesting and valuable information on the theory and practice of international justice. … this book is essential reading for anyone who is generally interested in the relationship between law and politics at the international level and, in particular, in employing and/or analysing the use of international criminal law to enforce human rights." (Gabriela Echeverria, Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 8 (3), 2008)

• Berlin, Germany

  Wolfgang Kaleck

• Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, USA

  Michael Ratner, Peter Weiss

• Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

  Tobias Singelnstein

Policies and ethics