This dissertation situates the war in Syria within the actual and imagined system of international criminal justice. It explores the legal impediments and diplomatic challenges that have led to... Show moreThis dissertation situates the war in Syria within the actual and imagined system of international criminal justice. It explores the legal impediments and diplomatic challenges that have led to this tragic state of affairs and reviews a number of accountability solutions being explored within multilateral gatherings, by states, and by civil society actors, including innovations of institutional design; the re-activation of a range of domestic jurisdictional principles (including universal jurisdiction in Europe); the emergence of creative investigative and documentation techniques, technologies, and organizations; and the rejection of state consent as a precondition for the exercise of jurisdiction. Engaging both law and policy around international justice, the text offers a set of justice blueprints, within and without the International Criminal Court. It also considers the utility, propriety, and practicality of establishing an ad hoc tribunal and pursuing a transitional justice program without a genuine political transition. All told, the book attempts to capture the creative energy radiating from members of the international community intent on advancing the accountability norm in Syria even in the face of geo-political blockages within the U.N. Security Council. Show less
This dissertation provides a detailed analysis of the practical and urgent issue concerning the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as evidence of customary international law. The... Show moreThis dissertation provides a detailed analysis of the practical and urgent issue concerning the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as evidence of customary international law. The dissertation is composed of seven chapters, including the introduction and conclusions. Chapter 2 sets out a flexible formula of the two-element identification approach, focusing more on opinio juris, and clarifies the term ‘declaratory’ that defines the relationship between treaty and custom. Based on the methodology and the terms illustrated in chapter 2, chapters 3-6 address key issues of war crimes, crimes against humanity, indirect co-perpetration and personal immunity. This dissertation concludes that provisions of the Rome Statute were partly declaratory of custom when adopted in 1998, and that they are also partly declaratory of custom at the present time. This dissertation will hopefully provide a perspective to understand part of the corpus of customary law applicable in the field of international criminal law which could be of value to legal practitioners of States. Show less
