Genocide in International Law The Crime of Crimes

The 1948 Genocide Convention has become a vital legal tool in the international campaign against impunity. Its provisions, including its enigmatic definition of the crime and its pledge both to punish and prevent the 'crime of crimes', have now been interpreted in important judgments by the International Court of Justice, the ad hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and various domestic courts. The second edition of this definitive work focuses on the judicial interpretation of the Convention, relying on debates in the International Law Commission, political statements in bodies like the General Assembly of the United Nations and the growing body of case law. Attention is given to the concept of protected groups, to problems of criminal prosecution and to issues of international judicial cooperation, such as extradition. The duty to prevent genocide and its relationship with the emerging doctrine of the 'responsibility to protect' are also explored.

1. Origins of the legal prohibition of genocide; 2. Drafting of the Convention and subsequent normative developments; 3. Groups protected by the Convention; 4. The physical element or actus reus of genocide; 5. The mental element or mens rea of genocide; 6. 'Other acts' of genocide; 7. Defences to genocide; 8. Prosecution of genocide by international and domestic tribunals; 9. State responsibility and the role of the International Court of Justice; 10. Prevention of genocide; 11. Treaty law questions and the Convention; Appendix. The three principal drafts of the Convention.

This second edition of the authoritative guide to the interpretation and application of genocide in international law reviews the drafting and interpretation of the 1948 Genocide Convention and considers the definition of genocide, forms of commission of the crime, defences to charges of genocide and responsibilities in terms of extradition.

William A. Schabas OC MRIA is Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and Professor of Human Rights Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The author of many books and journal articles on the subject of international rights law, Professor Schabas has served as an international member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2002 to 2004). He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Assistance in the Field of Human Rights, an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.