The Legacy of Punishment in International Law

The Legacy of Punishment in International Law illustrates how seventeenth and eighteenth century rationales for the use of force in support of piracy and colonialism have been transformed into progressive features of contemporary International Law. The classic practice of international punishment was a part of the jus ad bellum, and was the fig leaf for intra-European violence and for the European conquest of the Americas. It has been transformed, however, into the basis for the assertion of a set of unconditionally, universally binding rules of international law, and for universal jurisdiction over perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes. "The Legacy of Punishment in International Law illustrates how 17th and 18th century rationales for the use of force in support of piracy and colonialism have been transformed into progressive features of contemporary International Law. The classic practice of international punishment was a part of the jus ad bellum, and was the fig leaf for intra-European violence, and for the European conquest of the Americas. It has been transformed, however, into the basis for the assertion of a set of unconditionally, universally binding rules of international law, and for universal jurisdiction over perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 1 Introduction......Page 14 2 The Historical Trajectory of International Punishment......Page 28 3 Jus Cogens......Page 58 4 Obligations Erga Omnes and the Actio Popularis......Page 78 5 The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction......Page 94 6 The Problematic Discourse of State Crime......Page 122 7 Conclusion......Page 150 Notes......Page 154 Index......Page 198 This book explores the evolution of international punishment from a natural law-based ground for the use of force and conquest to a series of jurisdictional and disciplinary practices in international law not previously seen as being conceptually related.