The European Journal of International Law Vol. 20 no. 2 © EJIL 2009; all rights reserved
The Rise of International Criminal Law: Intended and Unintended Consequences
* Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American University, Washington DC, and Research Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and member of its Task Force on National Security and Law. Thanks to fellow members of the Hoover Task Force for comments on an early presentation of this article; they bear no responsibility for its content or any errors in it. Email: kanders{at}wcl.american.edu
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Abstract |
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The rise of international criminal law has been one of the remarkable features of international law since 1990. One of the less-explored questions of international criminal law is its social effects, within the international community and the community of public international law, in other parts and activities of international law. In particular, what are the effects of the rise of international criminal law and its emerging system of tribunals on the rest of the laws of armed conflict? What are the effects upon apparently unrelated aspects of humanitarian and human rights law? What are the effects upon other large systems and institutions of public international law, such as the UN and other international organizations? As international criminal law has emerged as a visible face of public international law, has it supplanted or even ‘crowded’ other aspects and institutions of public international law? This brief article offers a high-altitude, high-speed look at the effects of international criminal law on other parts of public international law and organizations.