Calibrating Colonial Crime: Reparations and The Crime of Unjust Enrichment

This profound book by leading socio-legal scholar Joshua Castellino offers a fresh perspective on the lingering legacies of colonization. While decolonization liberated territories, it left the root causes of historical injustice unaddressed. Governance change did not address past wrongs and transferred injustice through political and financial architectures. Castellino presents a five-point plan aimed at system redress through reparations that addresses the colonially induced climate crisis through equitable and sustainable means. In highlighting the structural legacy of colonial crimes, Castellino provides insights into the complexities of contemporary societies, showing how legal frameworks could foster a fairer, more just world. Front Cover Calibrating Colonial Crime: Reparations and the Crime of Unjust Enrichment Copyright information Dedication Contents Table of cases Introduction But it was a long time ago That’s life Just forget it What’s it got to do with me? It’s impossible anyway So it’s all my fault now? Caveats Preventing the post- colonial State from hiding behind colonial crime Not ‘Europeans versus the rest of the world’ Not just about money Revisionist history Part I Colonial Crime: Challenges, Classification and Cures 1 Combatting the Challenge of Colonial Crime: Ten Hurdles The intertemporal rule of law Legal personality Statutes of limitations The right to property Validity of contracts Establishing victimhood The general versus the specific Historical verification Calculating colonial tort Remedies wider than compensation 2 Classifying Colonial Crime: Seven Deadly Sins Subjecthood and objecthood Acquisition of title to territory Episodic colonial crime Systemic and widespread practices Decolonization-oriented crimes Legacy crimes Collusion in the commitment of crime 3 Curing Cancer: A Five-Point Plan to Address Colonial Crime Acceptance of wrongfulness Reparations Restitution Compensation Solidarity-oriented remedies Part II Extraction, Enrichment and Exploitation: Addressing the Tipping Point of Climate Change through Colonial Crime 4 Colonial Crime, Environmental Destruction and Indigenous Peoples: A Roadmap to Accountability and Protection Colonial crime and environmental degradation Law as the enabler of colonization Legal reification of colonial injustice The contemporary case of protected areas Conclusion 5 Financing System Change: A Recovery-Based International Law Response to Colonial Crime Drawing on science to understand the nature, impact, victimhood and responsibility for environmental crime Sharpening legal tools to address accountability and remedy structural discrimination What an international crime of unjust enrichment could look like Conclusion 6 From Vicious Cycle to Virtuous Circle Disrupting the cycle Undermining global and national governance Bibliography Civil society reports and commentaries Media articles and statements Film and TV Books Articles and chapters Annex Regional Groupings of Countries Africa (54) North Africa (6 +1) West Africa (15) Central Africa (9) East Africa (14) Southern Africa (10) The Americas (35) North America (3) Caribbean and Central America (22) South America (10) Asia (48) East Asia (5) Southeast Asia (11) South Asia (8) Central Asia (6) Western Asia (including the Gulf) (17 +1) Europe (42) Central and Eastern Europe (17) Western Europe (25 +1) Australasia and the Pacific (16) Australia and the Pacific (14 +2) Annex: Regional Groupings of Countries Index