Leiden Studies on the Frontiers of International Law – serie

This volume is the first in a new series of Studies on the Frontiers of International Law. The term ‘frontier’ is traditionally associated with proximity to a boundary or a demarcation line. But it is also a connecting point, i.e., a passage or channel between spaces that are usually considered as separate entities. The Series aims to explore the visible and imaginary boundaries of scholarship in International Law. It is designed to test the existing table of contents, vocabulary and limits of ‘Public International Law’, to investigate lines and linkages between ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’, and to re-map or re-think some of its conceptual boundaries. The current volume is written in this spirit. It deals with the tension between unity and diversification which has gained a central place in the debate under the label of ‘fragmentation’. It explores the meaning, articulation and risks of this phenomenon in a specific area: International Criminal Justice. It brings together established and fresh voices who analyse different sites and contestations of this concept, as well as its context and specific manifestations in the interpretation and application of International Criminal Law. The volume thereby connects discourse on ‘fragmentation’ with broader inquiry on the merits and discontents of legal pluralism in ‘Public International Law’.

This volume discusses the practice of transformative military occupation from the perspective of public international law through the prism of the occupation of Iraq and other cases of historical significance. It seeks to assess how international law should respond to measures undertaken in the pursuit of a given transformative project, whether or not supported by the Security Council.A monographic study tackling the bulk of the international law issues that emerge during and as a result of a transformative occupation, based on a comprehensive analysis of historical cases, applicable norms, and relevant facts."With this thorough and thought provoking study, Andrea Carcano has put us all in his debt."From the foreword by Georges Abi-Saab, Emeritus Professor, Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development.

In Jus Post Bellum, Jens Iverson provides the Just War foundations of the concept, reveals the function of jus post bellum, and integrates the law that governs the transition from armed conflict to peace. This volume traces the history of jus post bellum avant la lettre, tracing important writings on the transition to peace from Augustine, Aquinas, and Kant to more modern jurists and scholars. It explores definitional aspects of jus post bellum, including current its relationship to sister terms and related fields. It also critically evaluates the current state and possibilities for future development of the law and normative principles that apply to the transition to peace. Peacebuilders, scholars, and diplomats will find this book a crucial resource.

In Proving Discriminatory Violence at the European Court of Human Rights Jasmina Mačkić unveils the evidentiary issues faced by the European Court of Human Rights when dealing with cases of discriminatory violence. In that context, she evaluates the Court’s application of the standard of proof ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and aims to answer the question whether that standard forms an obstacle in establishing the occurrence of discriminatory violence. In addition, she offers an assessment into the circumstances in which the burden of proof may shift from the applicant to the respondent state. The author also looks at the types of evidentiary materials that may be used by the Court in order to establish discriminatory violence.

In Judges and the Making of International Criminal Law Joseph Powderly explores the role of judicial creativity in the progressive development of international criminal law. This wide-ranging work unpacks the nature and contours of the international criminal judicial function. Employing empirical, theoretical, and doctrinal methodologies, it interrogates the profile of the international criminal bench, judicial ethics, and the interpretative techniques that judges have utilized in their efforts to progressively develop international criminal law. Drawing on the work of Hersch Lauterpacht, it proposes a conception of the international criminal judicial function that places judicial creativity at its very heart. In doing so it argues that international criminal judges have a central role to play in ensuring that modern international criminal law continues to adapt to a volatile global environment, where accountability for crimes that shock the conscience of humanity is as much needed as at any moment in recent history.

This book explores the normative dimensions of the acts that constitute international crimes. The book conceptualises the normative dimensions of these acts as processes of construction and meaning making. Developing a novel methodological approach, it identifies the narratives and discourses that emerge in practice as central for understanding the normative meanings of these acts. Using the crimes of attacks on cultural property, pillage, sexual violence and reproductive violence as case studies, the book offers a historical, conceptual, and discursive analysis of these crimes to develop a dynamic, pluralist and socially constructed account of wrong in international criminal law.

This research advances the field of international criminal justice by proposing a holistic framework to organize legal pluralism within the emerging four-tiered justice paradigm—domestic, hybrid, regional, and international courts. It shifts the focus from universalism to contextual organizing principles, introducing the concept of ’system of justice‘ to better navigate overlapping jurisdictions. The study argues that regionalism is not a threat but a vital asset to international criminal justice, and it calls for a move beyond the ICC’s narrow complementarity criteria. By promoting principles like collaboration, deference and division of labour, it reimagines complementarity through a more inclusive, functional and cooperative lens.