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Universal jurisdiction : national courts and the prosecution of serious crimes under international law / edited by Stephen Macedo. - 1st paperback ed. - Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006, �2004. - vi, 383 pages ; 24 cm. - Pennsylvania studies in human rights . - Pennsylvania studies in human rights. .

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The history of universal jurisdiction and its place in international law / the quest for clarity / The growing support for universal jurisdiction in national legislation / The Adolf Eichmann case : universal and national jurisdiction / connecting the threads in the fabric of international law / Assessing the Pinochet litigation : whither universal jurisdiction / universal jurisdiction and transitions to democracy / The Hisse�ne Habr�e case : the law and politics of universal jurisdiction / Defining the limits : universal jurisdiction and national courts / Universal jurisdiction, national amnesties, and truth commission : reconciling the irreconcilable / The future of universal jurisdiction in the new architecture of transnational justice / Universal jurisdiction and judicial reluctance : a new fourteen points / the politics of advancing international criminal justice / M. Cherif Bassiouni -- Stephen A. Oxman -- A. Hays Butler -- Gary J. Bass -- Lori F. Damrosch -- Richard A. Falk -- Pablo De Greiff -- Stephen P. Marks -- Ann-Marie Slaughter -- Leila Nadya Sadat -- Diane F. Orentlicher -- Michael Kirby -- Lloyd Axworthy. Comment : Comment : Comment : Afterword :

When former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London at the request of a Spanish judge, the world's attention was focused for the first time on the idea of universal jurisdiction. Universal jurisdiction stands for the principle that atrocities such as genocide, torture, and war crimes are so heinous and so universally abhorred that any state is entitled to prosecute these crimes in its national courts regardless where they were committed or the nationality of the perpetrators or the victims. In 2001, two Rwandan nuns were convicted in a Belgian court for atrocities committed in Rwanda against Rwandans. Serbs have been prosecuted in German courts, and a court in Senegal asserted universal jurisdiction over the former dictator of Chad, Hissene Habr�e. Universal jurisdiction is becoming a potent instrument of international law, but it is poorly understood by legal experts and remains a mystery to most public officials and citizens. "Universal Jurisdiction" brings together leading scholars to discuss the origins, evolution, and implications of this legal weapon against impunity. They examine the questions that cloud its future, and its role in specific cases involving Adolf Eichmann, Pinochet, Habr�e, and former Rwandan government officials, among others, in order to determine the proper place of universal jurisdiction in the emerging regime of international legal accountability.

ISBN: 0812219503 9780812219500

LCCN: 2003053378

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Criminal jurisdiction.
International crimes.
Criminal courts.
International criminal law.
Droit p�enal international.
Droit international p�enal.
Tribunaux criminels.
International criminal law
Criminal courts
Criminal jurisdiction
International crimes
Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit
Innerstaatliches Recht
Strafrecht
Strafverfolgung
Internationales Strafrecht
Criminal jurisdiction.
International crimes.
Criminal courts.

LC Class. No.: K5036 / .U55 2006

Dewey Class. No.: A341.77

Universal Decimal Class. No.: 341.4(08)