The crime of aggression: a commentary

The 2010 Kampala Amendments to the Rome Statute empowered the International Criminal Court to prosecute the 'supreme crime' under international law: the crime of aggression. This landmark commentary provides the first analysis of the history, theory, legal interpretation and future of the crime of aggression. As well as explaining the positions of the main actors in the negotiations, the authoritative team of leading scholars and practitioners set out exactly how countries have themselves criminalized illegal war-making in domestic law and practice. In light of the anticipated activation of the Court's jurisdiction over this crime in 2017, this work offers, over two volumes, a comprehensive legal analysis of how to understand the material and mental elements of the crime of aggression as defined at Kampala. Alongside The Travaux Préparatoires of the Crime of Aggression (Cambridge, 2011), this commentary provides the definitive resource for anyone concerned with the illegal use of force

Volume 1.Foreword / Christian Wenaweser and Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein -- Introduction : the crime of aggression and the international legal order / Claus Kress -- World War I, Wilhelm II and Article 227 : the origin of the idea of 'aggression' in international criminal law / Kirsten Sellars -- The crimes against peace precedent / Carrie McDougall -- The legacy of the Tokyo dissents on 'crimes against peace' / Kirsten Sellars -- The general assembly's definition of the act of aggression / Thomas Bruha -- The practice of the Security Council regarding the concept of aggression / Nicolaos Strapatsas -- The International Court of Justice and the concept of aggression / Dapo Akande and Antonios Tzanakopoulos -- The International Law Commission's work on aggression / James Crawford -- Negotiations on the Rome statute (1995-1998) / Roger S. Clark -- Just war theory and the crime of aggression / Larry May -- The modern doctrinal debate on the crime of aggression / Florian Jessberger -- The specificity of the crime of aggression / Astrid Reisinger Coracini and Pal Wrange -- Aggression and international human rights law / William Schabas -- Interpreting the crime of aggression / Leena Grover -- The state conduct element / Claus Kress -- Individual conduct / Roger S. Clark -- General principles of international criminal law / Roger S. Clark -- Entry into force and conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction : cross-cutting issues / Stefan Barriga and Niels Blokker -- Conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction based on security council referrals / Niels Blokker and Stefan Barriga -- Conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction based on state referrals and proprio motu investigations / Stefan Barriga and Niels Blokker -- Immunities / Helmut Kreicker -- The crime of aggression, domestic prosecutions and complementarity / Pal Wrange -- The judicial function of the pre-trial division / Eleni Chaitidou, Franziska Eckelmans and Barbara Roche -- Victims of the crime of aggression / Erin Pobjie -- Croatia / Ksenija Turkovic and Maja Munivrana Vajda -- Germany / Elisa Hoven -- Estonia / Andres Parmas -- Russia / Svetlana Glotova -- United kingdom / Roger O' Keefe -- Volume 2. The Arab world / Mohamed M. El Zeidy -- Asia / Nina H. B. Jorgensen -- (Extended) synopsis : the crime of aggression under domestic criminal law / Astrid Reisinger Coracini -- Selected national laws and regional instruments on the crime of aggression -- Brazil / Marcel Biato and Marcelo Bohlke -- China / Zhou Lulu -- France / Edwige Belliard -- Germany / Susanne Wasum-Rainer -- India / Narinder Singh -- Iran / Djamchid Momtaz and Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh -- Israel / Roy Schondorf and Daniel Geron -- Japan / Ichiro Komatsu -- Republic of Korea (South Korea) / Young Sok Kim -- Norway / Rolf Einar Fife -- Russia / Gennady Kuzmin and Igor Panin -- South africa / Andre Stemmet -- United Kingdom / Christopher Whomersley -- United States / Harold Hongju Koh and Todd F. Buchwald -- Egypt / Namira Negm -- Civil society / Noah Weisbord -- A trap to the innocent / Martti Koskenniemi -- Unjust war and the crime of aggression / Jeff McMahan -- What is the specific evil of aggression? / Frederic Megret -- The crime of bootstrapping / Jens David Ohlin -- Amending the crime of aggression under the Rome statute / David Scheffer -- Epilogue. The long journey to Kampala : a personal memoir / Benjamin B. Ferencz