Legality Matters
Crimes Against Humanity and the Problems and Promise of the Prohibition on Other Inhumane Acts
Authors: MacNeil, Gillian
Free Preview- 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
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- About this book
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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.
- Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 1-7
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Theoretical Underpinnings: Understanding the Prohibition on Retroactive Criminal Law
Pages 9-26
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The Prohibition on Retroactive Criminal Law in International Criminal Law
Pages 27-79
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Crimes Against Humanity: Introduction, Development and Acceptance
Pages 81-118
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Other Inhumane Acts: Development and Critique
Pages 119-154
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Legality Matters
- Book Subtitle
- Crimes Against Humanity and the Problems and Promise of the Prohibition on Other Inhumane Acts
- Authors
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- Gillian MacNeil
- Series Title
- International Criminal Justice Series
- Series Volume
- 28
- Copyright
- 2021
- Publisher
- T.M.C. Asser Press
- Copyright Holder
- T.M.C. Asser Press and the author
- eBook ISBN
- 978-94-6265-443-3
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-94-6265-443-3
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-94-6265-442-6
- Series ISSN
- 2352-6718
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XIII, 196
- Number of Illustrations
- 2 b/w illustrations
- Topics
