Seeking Accountability for the Unlawful Use of Force

Despite the conclusion of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg that aggression is the 'supreme international crime', armed conflict remains a frequent and ubiquitous feature of international life, leaving millions of victims in its wake. This collection of original chapters by leading and emerging scholars from all around the world evaluates historic and current examples of the use of force and the context of crimes of aggression. As we approach the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, Seeking Accountability for the Unlawful Use of Force examines the many systems and accountability frameworks which have developed since the Second World War. By suggesting new avenues for enhancing accountability structures already in place as well as proposing new frameworks needed, this volume will begin a movement to establish the mechanisms needed to charge those responsible for the unlawful use of force.

Biographies of contributors; Foreword Sir Geoffrey Robertson; Preface Leila Nadya Sadat; Introduction Donald M. Ferencz; Part I. Historic and Contemporary Perspectives on the Unlawful Use of Force: 1. The status of aggression in international law from Versailles to Kampala - and what the future might hold M. Cherif Bassiouni; 2. Nuremberg and aggressive war William A. Schabas; 3. The Tokyo IMT and crimes against peace (aggression) - is there anything to learn? Robert Cryer; 4. The just war in ancient legal thought Larry May; 5. Definitions of aggression as harbingers of international change Kirsten E. Sellars; 6. International humanitarian law in an age of extremes: unlawful uses of force by non-state actors David M. Crane; Part II. Mechanisms for Restraining the Unlawful Use of Force and Enhancing Accountability: 7. Commissions of inquiry and the Jus ad Bellum Larissa van den Herik and Catherine Harwood; 8. The international court of justice and the use of force Douglas J. Pivnichny; 9. The other enemy: transnational terrorists, armed attacks and armed conflict Carrie McDougall; 10. Towards the substantive convergence of international human rights law and the laws of armed conflict - the case of Hassan v. the United Kingdom Robin Geiss; 11. International law on the use of force: current challenges Sergey Sayapin; Part III. The Illegal Use of Force and the Prosecution of International Crimes: 12. The crime of aggression under customary international law Yoram Dinstein; 13. The crime of aggression and the international criminal court Jennifer Trahan; 14. Prosecuting aggression through other universal core crimes at the International Criminal Court Terje Einarsen; 15. The illegal use of armed force (other inhumane act) as a crime against humanity: an assessment of the case for a new crime at the International Criminal Court Manuel J. Ventura; 16. Aggression, atrocities, and accountability: building a case in Iraq John Hagan and Anna Hanson; Part IV. Imagining a Better World: 17. Rethinking the relationship between Jus in Bello and Jus ad Bellum: a dialogue between authors Federica D'Alessandra and Robert Heinsch; 18. Twenty-first-century paradigms on military force for humane purposes David J. Scheffer and Angela Walker; 19. The presumption of peace: illegal war, human rights, and humanitarian law Mary Ellen O'Connell; 20. The urgent imperative of peace Leila Nadya Sadat; Epilogue Benjamin B. Ferencz; Index.