International Criminal Law

More and more, international criminal law is becoming a fact of day-to-day life in an ever-globalizing village. Legal practitioners, judges, prosecutors, defence attorneys and civil servants in ministries are increasingly confronted with issues of international criminal law. The jurisprudence of the ad hoc international tribunals (The Hague, Arusha) has intesified academic interest in the field and is changing traditional attitudes towards the law. National courts have to address difficult questions of international criminal law. Norms of international criminal have gradually become the standard by which behaviour of governments and individuals is assessed on the international scene. In the process, the general public has become increasingly aware of the existence of international criminal law. 11/9 and the war in Iraq have undoubtedly contributed to this awareness. In recent years there has been exponential growth in the number of instruments in the field of international criminal law. On the post 11/9 international scene, there has been a dramatic increase in the conventions dealing with terrorism. In Europe, a multitude of new instruments has emerged in such fields as counterfeiting, trafficking in human beings and child pornography. New cooperation methods (the European arrest warrant) and new institutions (Eurojust, joint investigation teams) were created to cope with the challenges of transnational criminal law. The present collection is a selection of the most important instruments. It is meant to guide students and practitioners through the labyrinth. Its focus is on international (universal) and European instruments. The third revised edition of this invaluable collection has grown considerably in comparison to previous editions, a fact which bears witness to the dramatic increase in international law instruments. The 'growth areas' it contains include the section on International Criminal Courts; sections on 'new' international crimes, such cybercrime and child pornography; greatly expanded entries for certain 'old' crimes, such as terrorism, and increased entries for an new player in the fied, the European Union.