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  • © 2018

Law, Politics and the Limits of Prosecuting Mass Atrocity

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Offers an entirely new way of comprehending the conduct of those whose job it is to prosecute the most serious of international crimes
  • Argues that law is a form of politics, and that both ICL enforcement and the politics of economic liberalisation are a means of waging politico-cultural war
  • Highlights the complicity between the production of scholarly knowledge in academia and the support for the international prosecutor’s work

Part of the book series: Human Rights Interventions (HURIIN)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
  2. Introduction

    • Damien Rogers
    Pages 1-30
  3. Prosecuting Mass Atrocity After the Second World War

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31
    2. International Military Tribunals

      • Damien Rogers
      Pages 33-56
    3. Opening Statements at Nuremberg and Tokyo

      • Damien Rogers
      Pages 85-102
  4. Prosecuting Mass Atrocity After the Cold War

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 103-103
    2. Ad-hoc International Criminal Tribunals

      • Damien Rogers
      Pages 105-132
    3. Opening Statements at The Hague and Arusha

      • Damien Rogers
      Pages 153-170
  5. Prosecuting Mass Atrocity During the War on Terror

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171
    2. International Criminal Court

      • Damien Rogers
      Pages 173-198
    3. Conclusion

      • Damien Rogers
      Pages 223-236
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 237-244

About this book

This book offers a unique and powerful critique of the quest for international criminal justice. It explores the efforts of three successive generations of international prosecutors, recognising the vital roles they play in the enforcement of international criminal law. By critically examining prosecutorial performance during the pre-trial and trial phases, the volume argues that these prosecutors are simultaneously political actors serving in the interests of economic liberalisation. It also posits that international prosecutors help wage a mostly silent and largely unacknowledged politico-cultural war fought for control over the institutions governing modernist international affairs. As the author contends, international prosecutors are thus best understood as agents not only of the law and politics, but also of a war fought by proponents of various utopian projects.

Reviews

“Examining prosecutors’ work through the lens of critical thinking can be regarded as a novel and ambitious choice of methodology, and can certainly be of interest to discourse analysis scholars and specialists on international relations and conflict studies.” (Galina Nelaeva and Elena Khabarova, Leiden Journal of International Law, Vol. 32 (2), June 2019)

 

“In Law, Politics and the Limits of Prosecuting Mass Atrocity Damien Rogers makes a timely and valuable contribution to the growing critical literature on international criminal law by challenging assumptions about the virtuous and apolitical role of the international prosecutor in the prosecution of atrocity crimes.” (Neil Boister, Professor of Law, University of Canterbury, New Zealand)

“This book is a massive synthesis of research on the meaning and conduct of international justice and presents meticulous evidence for its politicization. With a clearly stated argument, it gives a fresh view on international justice and is important reading for historians, social scientists, lawyers and human rights activists alike.” (Mats Deland, Associate Professor in History, Södertörn University College, Sweden)

“This is an innovative and critical study in the area of international criminal justice. Through its focus on the prosecutor this book adds new insights and opens up new venuesfor further research into the politics of law.” (W.G. Werner, Professor of International Law and Comparative Law, Vrije Universtitet Amsterdam, Netherlands)

“This book—an engagement with the strategic-conceptual work accomplished by international prosecutors in support of economic liberalisation—is a serious-minded, meticulous and politically-insurgent contribution to the critique of international criminal law.” (Gerry Simpson, Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    Damien Rogers

About the author

Damien Rogers is Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University, New Zealand.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access