Forging A Convention for Crimes Against Humanity

edited by Leila Nadya Sadat

“The importance of this pioneering book, Forging a Convention for Crimes Against Humanity, cannot be overestimated. Crimes against Humanity has emerged as the premier legal vehicle for international courts to impose accountability on perpetrators responsible for the most heinous crimes against innocent civilian populations. Through the International Convention mechanism proposed and discussed by a corps of experts in this comprehensive compilation, which chronicles its history in practice as well as crucial issues involving its scope,definition, and enforcement, the salutary potential of CAH as an effective protection for threatened victims around the globe could be significantly enhanced.”

~ Patricia M. Wald
Former Judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

“There exists an indisputable need for an international convention codifying and developing customary law on crimes against humanity. The editor of this book and all the distinguished contributors must be highly commended for offering a set of thoughtful papers that explore in depth the problems that the drafting of such convention may raise. All these scholars are animated by a keen desire to expand and consolidate international criminal law in an effort to bolster the principle of international accountability for mass atrocities.”

~ Antonio Cassese
Professor of International Law at the University of Florence, and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

“Although the Nuremberg Trials at the end of World War II lay a solid foundation for crimes against humanity and the development of international criminal justice in general, they essentially represented the judgment of the victor over the vanquished. In Forging a Convention for Crimes Against Humanity, prominent experts in the field make a powerful case for the adoption of a convention that would articulate and consolidate this most heinous category of crimes. Together with genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes, crimes against humanity are now enshrined in the emerging norm of the Responsibility to Protect. Covering the historical evolution of the initiative, a wide array of substantive dimensions to the categories of the crimes involved, and a draft of the proposed convention, this volume is a monumental contribution to an area of gravest concern to humanity.”

~ Francis M. Deng
Under-Secretary-General/Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide

 

“The onward march of international criminal law has been dramatic in recent years. What is proposed by the distinguished specialist contributors to this body is a further step of great significance -a comprehensive international convention dealing with crimes against humanity.”

~ Sir Geoffrey Palmer
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand

 

“I would suggest that the need for a convention on crimes against humanity is an obvious one. Not only will it fill a vacuum in international humanitarian law, but it would enable States and international organizations to adopt appropriate measures aimed at preventing serious crimes against civilian populations. It would be another positive step toward the withdrawal of impunity from war criminals.”

~ Richard Goldstone
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the  former Yugoslavia and Rwanda