International Criminal Law: A Collection of International and European Instruments

More and more, international criminal law is becoming a fact of day-to-day life in an ever-globalizing village. Legal practitioners, judges, prosecutors, defence attorneys and civil servants in ministries are increasingly confronted with issues of international criminal law. The jurisprudence of the ad hoc international tribunals (The Hague, Arusha) has intensified academic interest in the field and is changing traditional attitudes towards the law. National courts have to address difficult questions of international criminal law. Norms of international criminal law have gradually become the standard by which behaviour of governments and individuals is assessed on the international scene. In the process, the general public has become increasingly aware of the existence of international criminal law. 9/11 and the war in Iraq have undoubtedly contributed to this awareness. In recent years, there has been an exponential growth in the number of instruments in the field of international criminal law. On the post-9/11 international scene, there has been a dramatic increase in the conventions dealing with terrorism. In Europe, a multitude of new instruments has emerged in such fields as counterfeiting, trafficking in human beings and child pornography. New cooperation methods (the European arrest warrant) and new institutions (Eurojust, joint investigation teams) were created to cope with the challenges of transnational criminal law. The present collection is a selection of the most important instruments. It is meant to guide students and practitioners through the labyrinth. Its focus is on international (universal) and European instruments. The Third Revised Edition of this invaluablecollection has grown considerably in comparison to previous editions, a fact which bears witness to the dramatic increase in international criminal law instruments. The 'growth areas' it contains include the section on International Criminal Courts; sections on 'new' international crimes, such as cybercrime and child pornography; greatly expanded entries for certain 'old' crimes, such as terrorism; and increased entries for a new player in the field, the European Union.