International prosecution of human rights crimes /

The volume is a collection of essays that investigate current developments in the prosecution of human rights crimes on the national and international levels. Specialists representing a number of countries discuss relevant topics concerning the practice in different nations and analyze problems that have arisen in this developing field of law. They review the first years of the International Criminal Court and examine the role of international law in the national jurisprudence of selected countries such as Germany. In the process, a case is made for the development of a growing practice of universal jurisdiction. There is also an overview of attempts to bring to justice certain prominent persons such as Augusto Pinochet and Donald Rumsfeld, as well as some lesser-known ones. The emerging principle of universal jurisdiction and the war on terror's effect on various legal norms in some nations is discussed. While these developments could have a negative impact on long-standing principles of international law, for the most part the authors are positive about the long-term impact the developing practice of universal jurisdiction will have for dealing with international human rights crimes. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. E. W. Webking emeritus, University of Lethbridge