OAR@UM Collection:/library/oar/handle/123456789/786242025-11-05T20:03:46Z2025-11-05T20:03:46ZCrimes against humanity : towards a more comprehensive approach?Grech, Omar/library/oar/handle/123456789/792152023-10-26T08:55:01Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Crimes against humanity : towards a more comprehensive approach?
Authors: Grech, Omar
Abstract: The 1st of July 2022 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the coming into force of the
Rome Statute of the International Court. At the time of writing, in June 2021, Karim Khan
is in the process of taking over as the third Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court, following Luis Moreno Ocampo and Fatou Bensouda. As the Statute approaches
its 20 years of coming into force and the third Chief Prosecutor in the Court’s history
assumes his duties, it is an opportune time to reflect on one of the core crimes covered
within the Statute.
It is this context that the Centre for the Study and Practice of Conflict Resolution at the
University of Malta undertook an initiative to reflect critically on one of the core crimes
within the Court’s jurisdiction: Crimes Against Humanity (CAH). Thus, the Centre in
collaboration with the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies and the
Department of International Law at the same university, organised an academic seminar
on the theme: Crimes Against Humanity: Towards A More Comprehensive Approach?
The seminar brought together a number of scholars working in Malta, the United
Kingdom, Ireland and the USA, all of whom share an interest in the evolution of CAH.
This collection of essays stems from the seminar, which was held in April 2021.
The purpose of this publication is twofold: to examine some of the ways in which CAH
has developed over time; and to explore some future directions which CAH may follow.
Essentially, this publication seeks to chart the course of CAH from inception to their
current manifestation, while signposting some approaches in their understanding which
may be pursued in the coming years2021-01-01T00:00:00ZPreface [Crimes against humanity : towards a more comprehensive approach?]/library/oar/handle/123456789/792142023-10-26T08:55:37Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Preface [Crimes against humanity : towards a more comprehensive approach?]
Abstract: The 1st of July 2022 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the coming into force of the
Rome Statute of the International Court. At the time of writing, in June 2021, Karim Khan
is in the process of taking over as the third Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court, following Luis Moreno Ocampo and Fatou Bensouda. As the Statute approaches
its 20 years of coming into force and the third Chief Prosecutor in the Court’s history
assumes his duties, it is an opportune time to reflect on one of the core crimes covered
within the Statute.2021-01-01T00:00:00ZHersch Lauterpacht and early formulations of crimes against humanityIrvin-Erickson, Douglas/library/oar/handle/123456789/792132021-08-03T09:26:42Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: Hersch Lauterpacht and early formulations of crimes against humanity
Authors: Irvin-Erickson, Douglas
Abstract: Crimes against humanity first emerged in international law in 1945, when the allied
powers that won World War II—the United States, United Kingdom, the Soviet Union,
and France—granted the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg jurisdiction to
prosecute German leaders for ‘crimes against peace,’ ‘war crimes,’ and ‘crimes against
humanity.’ Since the Nuremberg trials, the concept of crimes against humanity has
expanded dramatically, which other essays in this volume describe. Most notably, as
highlighted in the next essay in this volume, international law has now affirmed that,
unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity may be committed in times of formal
peace. As William Schabas has put it, many colloquially view crimes against humanity
as being analogous to serious violations of human rights, but ‘in the case of breaches of
international human rights law, it is the state that is held responsible, whereas in the case
of crimes against humanity, individuals are the perpetrators and they are the ones who
are held criminally responsible.’ Thus, violations of human rights might trigger orders to
cease certain actions or compensate victims, but violations of crimes against humanity
can lead to the imprisonment of state officials, and even heads of state2021-01-01T00:00:00ZThe contextual elements in crimes against humanity : key developments from the Nuremberg Tribunal to the Rome StatuteGrech, Omar/library/oar/handle/123456789/792122021-08-03T09:26:06Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZTitle: The contextual elements in crimes against humanity : key developments from the Nuremberg Tribunal to the Rome Statute
Authors: Grech, Omar
Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to outline some of the key developments in the evolution of
the definition of Crimes Against Humanity (CAH) from its first stipulation in the London
Agreement of 1945 until its inclusion in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC
Statute) in June, 1998. In particular, the essay focuses on the evolution of the contextual
elements of the crime in light of the jurisprudence of national and international tribunals
as well as the definitions included in relevant international legal texts.2021-01-01T00:00:00Z