Overview
- Proposes a new approach to understanding retroactive criminal law drawing on the work of Lon L. Fuller
- Focusses on the ill-defined crime against humanity proscription of other inhumane acts, an underexamined area of crimes against humanity
- Draws on domestic criminal law theory to propose solutions to interpretive problems raised by crimes against humanity
Part of the book series: International Criminal Justice Series (ICJS, volume 28)
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About this book
This book examines the way international criminal courts and tribunals have interpreted the crimes against humanity proscription of other inhumane acts. This clause is consistently used in spite of the long list of more specific offences forbidden as crimes against humanity.
The volume proposes that the current approach is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the clause. Properly understood, the clause is an invitation to courts to create and apply retroactive criminal laws. This leads to a problem. A prohibition on the use of retroactive criminal laws, one which admits no exceptions, is deeply embedded in international law.
The author argues that it is time to revisit the assumption that retroactive criminal laws can never be deployed in a fair legal system. Drawing lessons from an exploration on the way the prohibition on retroactive laws is applied in practice, she proposes a new framework for understanding the clause proscribing the commission of other inhumane acts.
This book will be of relevance to anyone interested in international criminal law or criminal law theory.
Gillian MacNeil is Assistant Professor at Robson Hall, the Faculty of Law of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Legality Matters
Book Subtitle: Crimes Against Humanity and the Problems and Promise of the Prohibition on Other Inhumane Acts
Authors: Gillian MacNeil
Series Title: International Criminal Justice Series
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-443-3
Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press The Hague
eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)
Copyright Information: T.M.C. Asser Press and the author 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-6265-442-6Published: 13 February 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-6265-445-7Published: 13 February 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-94-6265-443-3Published: 12 February 2021
Series ISSN: 2352-6718
Series E-ISSN: 2352-6726
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 196
Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations
Topics: International Criminal Law , Public International Law