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Strapatsas, Nicolaos --- "The international criminal judgments: from Nuremberg to Tadić to Taylor" [2017] ELECD 366; in Schabas, A. William; Murphy, Shannonbrooke (eds), "Research Handbook on International Courts and Tribunals" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 79

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Courts and Tribunals

Editor(s): Schabas, A. William; Murphy, Shannonbrooke

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781005019

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: The international criminal judgments: from Nuremberg to Tadić to Taylor

Author(s): Strapatsas, Nicolaos

Number of pages: 43

Abstract/Description:

This chapter will examine the contribution international courts and tribunals have made to the evolution of the notions of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as addressed by the major judgments relating to international criminal law. It will focus on specific cases rendered after the Second World War, as well as on the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, followed by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Occasionally, references to certain national cases will be made, in order to better illustrate the complexities and contradictions associated with the legal evolutions of these international crimes. For its part, the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court is generally not included in the focus of the chapter because, unlike the ad hoc tribunals (the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court for Sierra Leone), the crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and its Elements of Crimes are extensively defined. Also, the International Criminal Court is bound to construe these definitions strictly, and not extend them by analogy, which gives it less room to ‘manoeuvre’ in developing the elements of crimes through its case law. Although significant, this chapter will not examine the concept of crimes against peace or aggressive warfare because the principal judgments relating to this concept to date are confined to the Second World War.