Building The International Criminal Court
by Benjamin N. Schiff /
2008 / English / PDF
1.6 MB Download
The ICC is the first and only standing international court capable
of prosecuting humanity's worst crimes: genocide, war crimes, and
crimes against humanity. It faces huge obstacles. It has no police
force; it pursues investigations in areas of tremendous turmoil,
conflict, and death; it is charged both with trying suspects and
with aiding their victims; and it seeks to combine divergent legal
traditions in an entirely new international legal mechanism.
International law advocates sought to establish a standing
international criminal court for more than 150 years. Other,
temporary, single-purpose criminal tribunals, truth commissions,
and special courts have come and gone, but the ICC is the only
permanent inheritor of the Nuremberg legacy. In Building the
International Criminal Court, Oberlin College Professor of Politics
Ben Schiff analyzes the ICC, melding historical perspective,
international relations theories, and observers' insights to
explain the Court's origins, creation, innovations, dynamics, and
operational challenges.
The ICC is the first and only standing international court capable
of prosecuting humanity's worst crimes: genocide, war crimes, and
crimes against humanity. It faces huge obstacles. It has no police
force; it pursues investigations in areas of tremendous turmoil,
conflict, and death; it is charged both with trying suspects and
with aiding their victims; and it seeks to combine divergent legal
traditions in an entirely new international legal mechanism.
International law advocates sought to establish a standing
international criminal court for more than 150 years. Other,
temporary, single-purpose criminal tribunals, truth commissions,
and special courts have come and gone, but the ICC is the only
permanent inheritor of the Nuremberg legacy. In Building the
International Criminal Court, Oberlin College Professor of Politics
Ben Schiff analyzes the ICC, melding historical perspective,
international relations theories, and observers' insights to
explain the Court's origins, creation, innovations, dynamics, and
operational challenges.