Subjects:

Human Rights and Civil Liberties

The aim of this book is to assess recent developments in international law, seeking to bring an end to impunity by bringing to justice those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The book was originally conceived while the editors were engaged, in different capacities, in proceedings relating to the detention of Senator Pinochet in London. The vigorous public debate that attended that case - and related developments in international criminal justice, such as the creation of the International Criminal Court and the trial of former President Milosevic - demonstrate the close connections between the law and wider political or moral questions. In the field of international criminal justice there appeared, therefore, a clear need to distinguish legal from essentially political issues - promoting the application of the law in an impartial and apolitical manner - while at the same time enabling each to legitimately inform the development of the other.