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Principles of International Criminal Law is one of the most influential textbooks in the field of international criminal justice. This fourth edition builds on the highly-successful work of the previous editions, setting out the general principles governing international crimes as well as the fundamentals of both substantive and procedural international criminal law. It provides a detailed understanding of the sources and evolution of international criminal law, demonstrating how it has developed, and how its application has changed. The book assesses in detail the four key international crimes as defined by the statute of the International Criminal Court: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
The new edition revises and updates the work with developments in international criminal justice since 2014. It includes substantial new material on critical perspectives on international criminal justice, the fragmentation of international criminal law, new war crimes of prohibited means of warfare, and the prosecution of crimes committed in Syria and Northern Iraq.The book retains its highly-acclaimed systematic approach and consistent methodology, making it essential reading for both students and scholars of international criminal law, as well as practitioners and judges working in the field.
Part One: Foundations
1: Historical Evolution of International Criminal Law
2: Concepts, Tasks, and Legitimacy
3: International Criminal Law and the International Legal Order
4: Sources and Interpretation
5: Universal Jurisdiction, the Duty to Prosecute, Transitional Justice
6: Enforcement
7: Domestic Implementation
Part Two: General Principles
8: Towards a General Theory of Crimes Under International Law
9: Material Elements
10: Mental Element
11: Individual Criminal Responsibility
12: Superior Responsibility
13: Grounds for Excluding Criminal Responsibility
14: Inchoate Crimes
15: Omissions
16: Official Capacity and Immunity
17: Multiplicity of Offenses
18: Requirements for Prosecution
Part Three: Genocide
19: Introduction
20: Material Elements
21: Mental Element
22: Incitement to Commit Genocide
23: Multiplicity of Offenses
Part Four: Crimes Against Humanity
24: Introduction
25: Contextual Element (Attack on a Civilian Population)
26: Individual Acts
27: Multiplicity of Offenses
Part Five: War Crimes
28: Introduction
29: Overall Requirements
30: War Crimes Against Persons
31: War Crimes Against Property and Other Rights
32: Employing Prohibited Methods of Warfare
33: Use of Prohibited Means of Warfare
34: War Crimes Against Humanitarian Operations
35: Multiplicity of Offenses
Part Six: The Crime of Aggression
36: The Prohibition of Aggression Under International Law
37: Criminal Responsibility Under Customary International Law (War of Aggression)
38: The Crime of Aggression in the ICC Statute Prospects
Gerhard Werle is Professor of International Criminal Law at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He has been a visiting professor at various universities worldwide, including Columbia Law School, New York; Kansai University, Osaka; University of Sydney; University of Technology, Sydney; University of Cape Town; and University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, where he is Director of the South African-German Centre for Development Research and Criminal Justice. Professor Werle was a member of the Working Group on the Introduction of a Code of Crimes Against International Law established by the German Federal Ministry of Justice, and is a member of the Expert Committee of the German Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law. His works on international criminal law, transitional justice, and modern legal history have been published widely in many languages.
Florian Jessberger is Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Hamburg, where he serves as the Director of the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, and a Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law. Jessberger holds law degrees from the University of Cologne and the Humboldt-University Berlin. Before joining Hamburg University's Faculty of Law in 2010, Jessberger was the Lichtenberg Professor of International and Comparative Criminal Law at Humboldt-University in Berlin.
Review(s) from previous edition
"'... the book's structure and style allow for its use both as a reference work and as a practitioner's manual ... the author's scholarly modesty in naming his treatise Principles of International Criminal Law deserves a particular mention. Professors Ian Browlie and Eric David had both previously adopted similar titles for their classical monographs on the law of peace and the law of armed conflict. If the experience of those modestly-named volumes is a any guide, Principles of International Criminal Law may also have a very successful future ahead.' -Journal of International Criminal Justice
