Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Origins of the legal prohibition of genocide
- 2 Drafting of the Convention and subsequent normative developments
- 3 Groups protected by the Convention
- 4 The physical element or actus reus of genocide
- 5 The mental element or mens rea of genocide
- 6 ‘Other acts’ of genocide
- 7 Defences to genocide
- 8 Prosecution of genocide by international and domestic tribunals
- 9 State responsibility and the role of the International Court of Justice
- 10 Prevention of genocide
- 11 Treaty law questions and the Convention
- Conclusions
- Appendix: The three principal drafts of the Convention
- Bibliography
- Index
Conclusions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Origins of the legal prohibition of genocide
- 2 Drafting of the Convention and subsequent normative developments
- 3 Groups protected by the Convention
- 4 The physical element or actus reus of genocide
- 5 The mental element or mens rea of genocide
- 6 ‘Other acts’ of genocide
- 7 Defences to genocide
- 8 Prosecution of genocide by international and domestic tribunals
- 9 State responsibility and the role of the International Court of Justice
- 10 Prevention of genocide
- 11 Treaty law questions and the Convention
- Conclusions
- Appendix: The three principal drafts of the Convention
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Nine years ago, when the first edition of this book went to press, there were a handful of judgments at first instance by the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia concerning interpretation of the crime of genocide, and some decisions reflecting the preliminary skirmishing in cases filed at the International Court of Justice pursuant to article IX of the Genocide Convention. There was also a small body of case law from national courts, a useful and authoritative report from the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, two very old monographs, and a modest volume of periodical literature. The concluding chapter of the first edition of this book began:
Many of the conclusions suggested in this study may soon find themselves challenged by judicial decisions. Important cases are pending before the trial and appeals chambers of the two ad hoc international tribunals, and before the International Court of Justice, and these may well clarify the lingering interpretative issues that have wallowed in obscurity over the half-century since the adoption of the Genocide Convention in 1948. The academic's dilemma is whether to await judicial pronouncements or to anticipate them. The second course has been more compelling because of the existence of published commentaries on the Convention that set out different hypotheses than those presented here. The judges who will have the final say on these matters in the years to come should be exposed to a range of views. What today remain nebulous and arcane disputes will, probably in short order, be taught and studied as conventional wisdom, established by this or that decision of the International Court of Justice, the ad hoc tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Genocide in International LawThe Crime of Crimes, pp. 641 - 654Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009