For some years now, reproductive medicine has been capable of performing the act of human procreation in vitro, fusing the female ovum and the male semen outside of the human body. The embryo created by this process is then “implanted” into the uterus of the woman who had previously provided the ovum. This technique serves to overcome certain physical defects - such as a malfunction of the fallopian tubes - of a couple that wants to have children.

Gustav Lambert Radbruch (1878-1949) and Hermann Kantorowicz (1877-1940) were undoubtedly two of the greatest legal scholars in Germany in the first half of the twentieth century; for some of this time arguably the greatest. It is a happy coincidence that they both attended the seminar of the criminologist Franz von Liszt in Berlin at the same time in 1903. Although very different in temperament and not always in agreement, they were immediately drawn to each other, highly respectful of each other's undoubted intellect, never jealous of the other's achievements but always altruistically supportive. Though together for only four months initially, they maintained regular contact through letters and quickly forged a close and life long friendship.

For quite some time the question of how to cope with violations of international humanitarian law was primarily one of individual criminal responsibility. However, over the last few years, the position of the victims of armed conflict has increasingly come into focus. In particular, attention has been given to the issue of reparations, including compensation, for breaches of international humanitarian law.