Book Review: The Law of War Crimes: National and International Approaches
| Date | 01 June 1998 |
| DOI | 10.22145/flr.26.2.10 |
| Author | Daniel C Turack |
| Published date | 01 June 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
BOOK REVIEW
The
Law
of
War Crimes: National and International
Approaches,
Timothy
L H McCormack
and
Gerry
J
Simpson
Editors,
Kluwer
Law
International
(1997)
Daniel CTurack*
At
this time there are two functioning
ad
hoc
international criminal tribunals,
one
for
the former Yugoslavia
and
the other for Rwanda. The international community is
on
the threshold of creating a
permanent
criminal
law
regime. This
volume
brings
together domestic
and
international approaches to
war
crimes which hitherto
have
been
most
commonly discussed separately. In doing so, the editors acknowledge
that
they "were keen to excavate some of the more obscure examples of
war
crimes
and
phenomena" (p xix).
Aside from anoteworthy forward
by
Professor James Crawford of the University of
Cambridge
and
adetailed preface
by
the co-editors (who individually are
on
the
Faculty of
Law
of the University of Melbourne
and
the Australian National
University), the book is divided into nine chapters, each
authored
by
one
or
both
of the
editors or six other legal scholars.
In
his "Critical Introduction", Gerry JSimpson points to certain ambiguities
that
attended
either from the previous
war
crimes trials or their ramifications. The chapter
is devoted to
an
exploration of some "philosophical, cultural
and
jurisprudential
dimensions of
war
crimes trials
and
international criminal
law
generally",
and
in
doing
so Simpson's "purpose is constructive" (p 3). His analysis considers four serious
difficulties, marshalled
under
the headings
of:
partiality, legality, definitions of
criminality
and
war
crimes as history. While "victor's justice"
may
be
true
with
respect
to the
Nuremberg
and
Tokyo trials, it fails as
an
argument
with
regard to
subsequent
trials before national tribunals such as
in
Germany
and
Israel or
in
the
ad
hoc
tribunals
involving the former Yugoslavia
and
Rwanda. Legality is subject to four encompassing
issues. These are generality
and
uniformity regardless of the actor's status, the principle
of nullem crimen sine
lege
(including the proliferation of definitions of a
war
crime,
and
Professor of Law,
Capital
University
Law
Schoo!., Columbus, Ohio.
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