Brown, Bartram S. --- "International Criminal Law: Nature, Origins and a Few Key Issues" [2011] ELECD 93; in Brown, S. Bartram (ed), "Research Handbook on International Criminal Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Criminal Law

Editor(s): Brown, S. Bartram

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847202789

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: International Criminal Law: Nature, Origins and a Few Key Issues

Author(s): Brown, Bartram S.

Number of pages: 14

Extract:

1 International criminal law: nature, origins and a few
key issues
Bartram S. Brown



The purpose of international criminal law is to establish the criminal responsibility of indi-
viduals for international crimes. Public international law is traditionally focused on the rights
and obligations of states, and thus is not particularly well suited to this task. It has adapted
through a long and slow historical process, drawing upon multiple sources. Many of the chap-
ters in this Handbook explore to some extent the historical development of international crim-
inal law. I will not attempt to summarize that history in detail, but a few historical
observations here will help to explain how international criminal law emerged from its
sources in public international law, comparative law, international humanitarian law and
international human rights law. This will set the stage for an introductory discussion of some
key issues in contemporary international criminal law.


ORIGINS AND SOURCES

Public International Law

International criminal law has developed and grown as part of a broader system of public
international law which, since 1648, has been based on state sovereignty, including each
state's jurisdiction over its own territory and citizens. A basic system of international law,
defining the rights and obligations of states, was needed to recognize and validate this sover-
eignty, but this decentralized system has no legislature. Instead, international law must be
based on the consent of states, arising from one or more of three formal sources: i.e. treaties,
customary international law, or general principles ...