Bücher der Reihe International Criminal Justice

This timely book comprehensively examines whether the worst human rights violations directed specifically at sexual and gender minorities are punishable under international criminal law, as codified in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.Drawing on general rules of interpretation, the development of human rights for sexual and gender minorities, and the social construction of gender, this monograph reveals that the worst crimes committed against persons because of their sexual orientation or gender identity can amount to crimes against humanity, particularly the crime of persecution under Article 7(1)(h). It also shows how legislators can be held individually criminally responsible for passing laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexuality.The book not only makes a significant and original contribution to the literature but is also highly relevant for international criminal law practitioners, since, so far, no cases regarding this topic exist.Dr. Valerie V. Suhr is currently a trainee lawyer in the district of the Koblenz Court of Appeal in Germany

This book explores the issue of leadership criminality from a new angle by comparing two highly relevant modes of responsibility. By contrasting individual criminal responsibility for ordering international crimes with indirect perpetration through an organisation, it shows the doctrinal weaknesses of the latter and outlines the much-overlooked advantages of the former. The volume analyses the development of both forms of responsibility, looking at their origins, and their reception in academia and practical use in jurisprudence.The history of indirect perpetration through an organisation (Organisationsherrschaft) is portrayed from its German academic origin, through German jurisprudence to the reception of the doctrine at the International Criminal Court. By comparing the doctrine¿s stages of evolution, the book sheds light on the different aspects of the various models of indirect perpetration through an organisation and carves out general and fundamental criticismof it. The characteristics of ordering liability are explored in depth through an analysis of jurisprudence of the Nuremberg subsequent trials, the ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court. This historic and doctrinal comparison reveals a well-defined and to-date much neglected mode of responsibility with enormous potential for the adjudication of leadership figures in the ambit of international criminal law and only one conclusion can follow from this analysis: it calls for practitioners and academics to leave the well-trodden paths of national criminal law doctrine and embrace truly international modes of liability such as the ordering of a crime.This volume in the ICJ series provides practitioners, researchers and students with a detailed account of forms of leadership liability and an innovative approach to the topic¿s most discussed issue.Dr. Johannes Block is a criminal lawyer specializing in international criminal law, responsibility of leadership figures, questions of perpetration and participation in crime as well as the national-socialists¿ crimes. He studied in Münster, Germany and Bogotá, Colombia and obtained his Dr. iur. from the University of Cologne, where he also worked and taught as a research assistant for several years. His legal clerkship led him to organized crime investigations, criminal defence, the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry of Justice.

This book concentrates on the crisis perpetrated by the Boko Haram group in Nigeria, which since 2009 has made a definitive impact on both the domestic and international criminal landscape. The volume centres on three core issues: first, an assessment of the criminal legal responses at the domestic level, where the legal characterization of the conducts in question, including an evaluation of the state of specific domestic prosecutions, are assessed. Secondly, the book gauges the potential for international criminal justice while evaluating the Boko Haram situation at the International Criminal Court. This includes an assessment of the jurisdictional aspects, the admissibility, and the interests of justice requirements in addition to the appraisal of conducts amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated.Finally, the book explores possible non-prosecutorial responses in the form of classic and non-classic transitional justice mechanisms that maybe utilized as a response to the crisis in Nigeria. Furthermore, it draws instructive lessons from Nigeriäs past misadventure with specific transitional justice mechanisms while exploring the realities of utilizing the restorative justice mechanisms available in Nigeria. The volume concludes by calling for a victim-centred approach in the discourse around the Boko Haram crisis.This book presents a definitive study of the history of the development of Boko Haram and the related domestic and international criminal legal issues. Researchers and anyone seeking to understand the Boko Haram crisis in relation to international criminal law, including those looking for a clear overview of the criminal conduct perpetrated by Boko Haram in Nigeria and a view of Nigeriäs domestic legal regime, will benefit from the information on offer.Victoria Ojo-Adewuyi is a lawyer, called to the Nigeria Bar in 2012. She obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B)in 2011 from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (Nigeria), obtained a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M) from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town (South Africa) and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin under the South African-German Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice in 2016, and completed her doctorate in International Criminal Law at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany) in 2022.