Advanced International Criminal Law

International Criminal Law (ICL) is a relatively new branch of international law that
has solidified in the aftermath of World War II through the Nuremberg Trial and the
Nuremberg Principles. ICL seeks to ensure individual criminal responsibility for the
gravest crimes under international law, the so-called core crimes: war crimes, crimes
against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. These issues have become
particularly pertinent for Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s aggression in 2014
and, in particular, after the 2022 full-scale invasion.

This course looks into the historical developments of ICL from the Nuremberg Trial
through the establishment of the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for
Rwanda and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the rise of universal jurisdiction
and other domestic proceedings concerning international crimes. Importantly, the
course explores not just the ‘international’ facet of the development of ICL, but also
analyses the groundbreaking domestic contributions to the field such as Argentina’s
Trial of the Juntas. The students will learn about the foundations of the work of
various special and hybrid criminal tribunals as well as of the first permanent
international criminal court — the ICC.

In class, we will discuss the legal nuances of all four core international crimes as well
as the challenges to prosecuting them domestically and internationally such as
immunities and amnesties. Finally, the course is not limited to criminal accountability,
but aims to provide the students with a wider view of justice through discussions of
the other pillars of transitional justice such as truth-telling, reparations,
memorialisation, institutional reforms, prevention and the guarantees of non-
repetition. All of the above will be examined with a strong Ukrainian focus of ensuring
accountability for international crimes perpetrated amid Russian aggression,
reforming domestic criminal legislation for enhancing conflict-related proceedings,
strengthening cooperation with the ICC and developing a wider, transitional justice
policy.