From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice [Paperback]

Philippe Sands (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521536766 | ISBN-13: 978-0521536769 | Publication Date: March 24, 2003

This collection is based on a lecture series organized jointly by Matrix Chambers and the Wiener Library in London between April and June 2002. Leading experts present papers examining the evolution of international criminal justice from its origins at Nuremberg through to the proliferation of international courts and tribunals based at The Hague today. The lectures will provide various perspectives on the subject for anyone interested in international criminal law--from specialists to non-specialists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Unlike many edited collections, From Nuremberg to the Hague is a tightly structured book...Overall, in just 192 pages, From Nuremberg to the Hague offers a concise and thoughtful overview of the origins, current state, and unclear prospects for teh development of an international system for the prosecution and punishment of state crimes. As such, the book is an excellent prospect as a teaching tool, particularly for graduate and advanced undergraduate classes." - Raymond Michalowski, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff

Book Description

This collection is based on a lecture series organized jointly by Matrix Chambers and the Wiener Library in London between April and June 2002. Leading experts present a fascinating collection of papers examining the evolution of international criminal justice from its origins at Nuremberg through to the proliferation of international courts and tribunals based at The Hague today. Original and provocative, the lectures provide various perspectives on the subject. An intelligent and thought-provoking book, accessible to anyone interested in international criminal law from specialists to non-specialists alike.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521536766
• ISBN-13: 978-0521536769
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,530,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars executive summary for broader themes, November 21, 2008

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Robert D. Harmon "bobnbob3" (Mill Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice (Paperback)

From Nuremberg to The Hague is based on a 2002 lecture series by leading experts in international law, including Mr. Sands. Given just as the global war on terror was getting under way, this book is a very brief introduction to legal proceedings that will become prominent in coming years. While not a work that will inform lawyers already in the field, it can be insightful for lawyers and law students not in international law, and it can be a clearly-worded explanation to laypeople.

Andrew Clapham's lecture on complicity and complementarity may burst a lot of myths about International Criminal Court jurisdiction: it is only when a country will not prosecute war crimes that the ICC begins to assert itself, something that lawmakers should consider before absolving or pardoning any suspects in recent conflicts. Mr. Sands' own article on the 1998 Pinochet case shows just how much of a watershed this case was: after Pinochet, retired government officials may find unexpected problems if they travel. This was not true after Vietnam, but it is true after Pinochet.

The chapters on the ICC and the Rome Statute are short and, of necessity, sketchy, but it's worth reading what experts in the field thought, both in historical context (as of 2002) and in general applicability. Given that a U.S. administration is retiring, a new administration and Congress are taking over, and that the world faces new war crimes and piracy in various places as I write, this book is a helpful introduction to this area of international law.

This book is also a useful introduction to Mr. Sands' books, "Lawless World" and "Torture Team," both of which I also recommend. Here, he sets the stage, and in his later works he presents his own analysis, and indictments. As someone who writes and research on some areas of war-crime law, I find From Nuremberg to The Hague, and Mr. Sands' work in general, to be indispensable.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Minor Contribution to the Literature, March 26, 2005

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Reader (Arlington, Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice (Paperback)

The five essays in this short book dip into various aspects of post-World War II international criminal law. Although clearly written, the essays are only loosely linked, and it's hard to imagine what their audience was intended to be. Lawyers will be put off by the lack of a comprehensive legal overview of the new International Criminal Court; historians and political scientists will be disappointed by the short shrift given to the Yugoslavia and Rwanda war crimes tribunals; and the general reader probably won't have enough background to appreciate the occasional esoteric legal point. Frankly, almost any reader -- professional or layman -- would be better off with William Schabas' An Introduction to the International Criminal Court, which gives a lucid overview of the law and fills in the historical details.