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Professional/Experiential Skills Courses First Year Courses Only

International Criminal Law (LAW-850-001)
Vladeck

Notices

Description

International Criminal Law might best be described as being one part public international law, one part substantive criminal law, one part theories of punishment, one part the law(s) of war, and one part national security law. On the surface, the course looks a lot like substantive criminal law, and we will devote a substantial amount of time to the elements of the relevant substantive offenses, the requisite intent / mens rea of the offenders, theories of superior / command responsibility, the available defenses, and forms of inchoate liability.

But the analogy to domestic criminal law breaks down rather quickly, for international criminal law is about a particular subset of offenses so heinous as to require a response not just from national courts, but from international courts, as well. This distinction itself raises numerous questions: What separates these offenses? What gives “international” courts the authority to prosecute these offenses, but not others? What gives them any authority in the first place? What unique challenges do these international institutions face, especially with respect to their legitimacy and their ability to enforce their judgments? How, especially in the case of the war crimes tribunals after World War II, do these courts avoid the charges of “victors’ justice” that have plagued them? From the perspective of the “victims,” is punishment always the best remedy for societies healing from traumatic events? If not, what other mechanisms are available? Perhaps most importantly (at least for our purposes), why do some countries, the United States foremost among them, feel so threatened by the project of international criminal justice? Is the International Criminal Court the inevitable result of a progressing and globalizing international community, or is it a dangerous arrogation of national sovereignty?

These are just some of the many questions that we will consider over the course of the upcoming semester. You will, no doubt, have your own questions as we work through the course materials, questions that will hopefully become the basis for your seminar papers.

Textbooks and Other Materials

The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.

First Class Readings

The assignment for the first class is to read pages 1-37 of the Casebook, and be prepared to discuss the options available to the Allies for dealing with Nazi and Japanese leaders / war criminals at the end of the Second World War. For those still shopping, you needn’t purchase the casebook; hard copies of these pages will be available outside Prof. Vladeck’s office (Room 386) as of Monday, August 13.

Syllabus

Use your MyAU username and password to access the syllabus in the following format(s):

• Microsoft Word (DOC)
• Corel Wordperfect (WPD)
• Adobe Acrobat (PDF)