International Criminal Law Under Graduate - Viii Semester SESSION 2021-2022 (February - June)
International Criminal Law Under Graduate - Viii Semester SESSION 2021-2022 (February - June)
International Criminal Law Under Graduate - Viii Semester SESSION 2021-2022 (February - June)
SESSION 2021-2022
(FEBRUARY – JUNE)
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BACKGROUND
International Criminal Law (ICL) is a discipline that straddles Public International Law and
Criminal Law. It simultaneously derives its origin from and continuously draws upon International
Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law, and National Criminal Law as well. At its origin, ICL was
chiefly concerned with offences committed during armed hostilities in times of war . There after ,
since World War II that new categories of crimes have developed. As for the rules on international
criminal proceedings, they were first laid down in the Statutes of International Military Tribunal
and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. However, the recent establishment of
international criminal tribunals and in particular, of the International Criminal Court, has given a
stupendous impulse to the evolution of a corpus of international criminal rules proper.
OBJECTIVES OF STUDY:
This course has been designed to develop among students an understanding of the
development of major areas in ICL. The endeavour has been to present a concise yet comprehensive
overview of the subject with a view to provide basic information to the students at the
undergraduate level through this optional course.
It intends to cover origins of international criminal law, its progressive development in terms of
substantive law since the Second World War, and the progress made towards the establishment of
permanent International Criminal Court.
It lays emphasis on objective and subjective components the core crimes : war crimes, genocide,
crimes against humanity and crime against peace A particular emphasis will be placed on the
Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force in 2002.
It aims to give students a comprehensive understanding of international criminal law (ICL) and
its broad interrelationship with some of the other branches of international law, particularly
international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
EVALUATION SCHEME:
a) Continuous Assessments 30%
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COURSE SYLLABUS
3.4 Organs of the Court: The Presidency, The chambers, Office of the prosecutor, Assembly of
States parties and Review conference.
4.2 Crimes Against Humanity: notion and origin, objective and subjective elements, possible
authors and victims, crimes against humanity under customary international law and ICC Statute
4.3 Genocide: notion and origin, objective and subjective elements,1948 Geneva Convention,
genocide under customary international law and ICC Statute
4.4 Aggression
4.5 Torture
4.6 Terrorism
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4.7 Piracy
READINGS:
Statute of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious
Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former
Yugoslavia Since 1991, May 25, 1993, 32 I.L.M. 1192.
Statute of the International Tribunal for Rwanda, Nov. 8, 1994, 33 I.L.M. 1602
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Adopted by the
GeneralAssembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948, Jan 12, 1951.
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Principles of International Cooperation in the Detection, Arrests, Extradition and
Punishment of Persons Guilty of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, 1973.
BOOKS
Bantekas, Ilias and Susan Nash, International Criminal Law, 3rd ed., NY: Routlege Cavendish
Publishing, 2009
Bassiouni, Cherif M., Introduction to International Criminal Law, Ardsley, NY: Transnational
Publishers, 2003
Bassiouni, Cherif M., International Criminal Law, 3rd ed., Leiden, The Netherlands: Martinus N
ijhoff, 2008
Belleli, Roberto, ed., International Criminal Justice: Law and Practice from the Rome Statute to
itsReview, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2010
Brown, Bartram S, ed., Research Handbook on International Criminal Law,UK : Edward Elgar,
2011
Cassese, Antonio, InternationalCriminal Law, 2nd ed., Oxford: OUP, 2008
Cassese, Antonio, Guido Acquaviva, Mary Fan and Alex Whiting, International Criminal Law:
Cases and Commentary, London: OUP, 2011
Cassese, Antonio, ed., The Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice, Oxford: OUP,
2008
Cyrer, Robert, HakanFriman, Darryl Robinson and Elizabeth Wilmhurst, An Introduction to
International Criminal Law and Procedure, 2nd ed., Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University
Press, 2010
Doria, Jose (et al.), ed., The Legal Regime of the International Criminal Court: Essays in Honour
of Professor Igor Blishchenko, Leiden, The Netherlands: MartinusNijhoff, 2009
Herik, Larissa van dek and Carsten Stahn, ed., The Diversification and Fragmentation of
International Criminal Law, Leiden, The Netherlands: MartinusNijhoff, 2012
Knoops, Geert-Jan Alexander, Defenses in Contemporary International Criminal Law, 2nd ed.,
Leiden, The Netherlands: MartinusNijhoff, 2007
Sadat, Leila Nadya and MichaelP. Scharf, ed., The Theory and Practice of International Criminal
Law: Essays in Honour of M. CherifBassiouni, Leiden, The Netherlands: MartinusNijhoff, 2008
Schabas, William A, Nadia Bernaz, Routledge Handbook of International Criminal Law, Taylor
& Francis, 2010
Schabas, William A, An Introduction to the Inetrnational Criminal Court, 4th ed., Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2011
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Sunga, Lyal S., The Emerging System of International Criminal Law: Developments in
Codification and Implementation, Hague, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International, 1997
Werle, Gerhard, Principles of InternationalCriminal Law, 2nd ed., Hague: TMCAsser, 2009
Werle, Gerhard and Florian Jessberger, Principles of International Criminal Law, 3rd ed., Oxford:
OUP, 2014
Zeidy, Mohammed M E l, The Principle of Complimentarity in International Criminal Law:
Origin, development and Practice, Leiden, The Netherlands: MartinusNijhoff, 2008
ONLINE RESOURCES
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