Le plein épanoussement du concept de crime contre l'humanité n'est en définitive possible que par la voie du respect le plus strict des principes que sa mise en oeuvre était censée entraver. De "contrainte", le respect des principes fondateurs de l'Etat moderne devient "justification": le basculement que l'on voit s'opérer témoigne, au passage, d'un nouveau regard porté sur l'Etat.
Le devenir du concept de crime contre l'humanité reflète les efforts des acteurs juridiques pour sortir d'une impasse, par diverses tentatives de conciliation entre concepts porteurs d'exigences a priori inconciliables : la condamnation pénale d'actes relevant d'une criminalité d'Etat indépendante d'un conflit armé international, dont l'impunité serait inacceptable du point de vue moral, se heurte en effet au respect des principes fondateurs de l'Etat moderne, dont la violation remettrait irrémédiablement en cause l'indépendance et la puissance étatique exprimée, tout particulièrement, à travers le monopole du droit de punir. Le plein épanouissement du concept de crime contre l'humanité n'est en définitive possible que par la voie du respect le plus strict des principes que sa mise en oeuvre était censée entraver. De contrainte, le respect des principes fondateurs de l'Etat moderne devient justification : le basculement que l'on voit s'opérer témoigne, au passage, d'un nouveau regard porté sur l'Etat.
Le concept de crime contre l'humanité est à la fois simple - il renvoie à des actions qui révoltent la conscience - et complexe - sa signification est empreinte d'inconstance. De nombreux travaux scientifiques témoignent de cette ambivalence, au travers de l'étude de la notion de crime contre l'humanité et de son régime juridique. Des travaux dont l'apport majeur est de répondre au "comment". Sévane Garibian propose quant à elle de répondre au "pourquoi", et de reconstruire l'histoire du concept à partir des sources primaires et de l'abondante doctrine préexistante en adoptant un nouvel angle de vue. Cette approche inédite exige de rendre visibles les facteurs juridiques commandant l'évolution du concept. Pour ce faire, l'auteure s'appuie aussi sur les écrits dédiés plus généralement aux questions classiques et incontournables soulevées par l'internationalisation du droit pénal et l'émergence d'un ordre pénal international, indissociable de celle du concept, et d'une actualité sans cesse renouvelée.
This book traces the evolution of crimes against humanity (CAH) and their application from the end of World War I to the present day, in terms of both historic legal analysis and subject-matter content. The first part of the book addresses general issues pertaining to the categorization of CAH in normative jurisprudential and doctrinal terms. This is followed by an analysis of the specific contents of CAH, describing its historic phases going through international criminal tribunals, mixed model tribunals and the International Criminal Court. The book examines the general parts and defenses of the crime, along with the history and jurisprudence of both international and national prosecutions. For the first time, a list of all countries that have enacted national legislation specifically directed at CAH is collected, along with all of the national prosecutions that have occurred under national legislation up to 2010.
This challenging volume contains articles by a wide variety of well-known scholars and practitioners, and deals with human rights, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and humanitarian assistance, as well as other areas of international law relating to the protection of humanity. These are topics to which Flavia Lattanzi, in whose honour the volume is being published, has made an outstanding contribution and to which she has given her determined and unrelenting professional and personal commitment. As a former Professor at the Universities of Pisa, Sassari, Teramo and Roma Tre and as Judge ad litem at the International Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, she has adhered constantly to a number of important principles, as reflected in the research contained in this volume. They include the firm conviction that respect for human rights is an indispensable precondition for durable peace; the notion that grave breaches of human rights, including the refusal to provide assistance to populations in distress, can imply a threat to international peace and security; and that guarantees against human rights violations include the question of the punishment of core crimes under International Law.
A profound, important book, a moving personal detective story and an uncovering of secret pasts, set in Europe’s center, the city of bright colors—Lviv, Ukraine, dividing east from west, north from south, in what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A book that explores the development of the world-changing legal concepts of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” that came about as a result of the unprecedented atrocities of Hitler’s Third Reich. It is also a spellbinding family memoir, as the author traces the mysterious story of his grandfather as he maneuvered through Europe in the face of Nazi atrocities. This is “a monumental achievement ... told with love, anger and precision” (John le Carré, acclaimed internationally bestselling author). East West Street looks at the personal and intellectual evolution of the two men who simultaneously originated the ideas of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity,” both of whom, not knowing the other, studied at the same university with the same professors, in “the Paris of Ukraine,” a major cultural center of Europe, a city variously called Lemberg, Lwów, Lvov, or Lviv. Phillipe Sands changes the way we look at the world, at our understanding of history and how civilization has tried to cope with mass murder
This unique book brings together leading experts from diverse areas of public international law to offer a comprehensive overview of the approaches to evolutionary interpretation in different international legal regimes. It begins by asking what interpretation is, offering the views of expert authors on the question, its components and definitions. It then comments on situations that have called for evolutionary interpretation in different international legal regimes, including general international law, environmental law, human rights law, EU law, investment law, international trade law, and how domestic courts have, on occasions, interpreted treaties and other international legal instruments in an evolutionary manner. This timely, authoritative compendium offers an in-depth understanding of the processes at work in evolutionary interpretation as well as a prime selection of the current trends and future challenges.
This ambitious book examines the historical, theoretical, and axiological foundations of European legal culture, and explores their practical impacts on current European law and legal ways of thinking in Europe. Including considerations about the history of law as well contemporary legal issues, the book consists of seven chapters authored by scholars from across the globe, from Italy to Taiwan. This volume shows that it is possible to speak of one European legal culture in terms of various countries’ common legal origins (Roman law, Greek philosophy, and medieval jurisprudence as the ius commune), while also discussing distinct national legal cultures and traditions in Europe. However, to understand the present day law and legal profession, it is necessary to go back to the values, theories, and thinkers which were influential in the progress of European law from ancient times to the 19th century. The book not only presents the theoretical and historical issues of European legal culture, but also acquaints the audience with the true axiological foundations of our contemporary legal institutions, and the methods of legal thinking in Europe. It is clear that many of our current legal concepts and institutions come from theorists such as Aristotle, Ulpian, Aquinas, Hobbes and Savigny. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of legal history, jurisprudence, and European law, especially in the context of the origins of European legal culture. Moreover, it will also appeal to all lawyers working in both the common law and the civil law traditions wishing to gain a greater understanding of European legal heritage.
