Principles of International Criminal Law has become one of the most influential textbooks in the field of international criminal justice. It offers a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the foundations and general principles of substantive international criminal law, including thorough discussion of its core crimes. It provides a detailed understanding of the general principles, sources, and evolution of international criminal law, demonstrating how it has developed, and how its application has changed. After establishing the general principles, the book assesses the four key international crimes as defined by the statute of the International Criminal Court: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. This new edition revises and updates work with developments in international criminal justice since 2009. It includes new material on the principle of culpability as one of the fundamental principles of international criminal law, the notion of terrorism as a crime under international law, the concept of direct participation in hostilities, the problem of so-called unlawful combatants, and the issue of targeted killings. The book retains its highly-acclaimed systematic approach and consistent methodology, making the book essential reading for both students and scholars of international criminal law, as well as for practitioners and judges working in the field.

Author Biography

Gerhard Werle is Professor of International Criminal Law at Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. He has been a visiting professor at various universities worldwide, including Columbia Law School, New York; Kansai University, Osaka University of Sydney; University of Technology, Sydney; University of Cape Town; and University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, where he is Director of the South African-German Centre for Development Research and Criminal Justice. Professor Werle was a member of the Working Group on the Introduction of a Code of Crimes Against International Law established by the German Federal Ministry of Justice, and is a member of the Expert Committee of the German Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law. His works on international criminal law, transitional justice, and modern legal history have been published widely in many languages. Florian Jessberger is Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Hamburg, where he serves as the Director of the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, and a Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law. Jessberger holds law degrees from the University of Cologne and the Humboldt-University Berlin. Before joining Hamburg University's Faculty of Law in 2010, Jessberger was the Lichtenberg Professor of International and Comparative Criminal Law at Humboldt-University in Berlin.