Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Legal Nature
- 2 Phenomenological Considerations
- 3 Emergence in Positive International Law
- 4 Post-Charter Developments
- 5 The Principles of Legality in the London Charter and Post-Charter Developments
- 6 Specific Contents
- 7 The Theories and Elements of Criminal Responsibility
- 8 Defenses and Exonerations
- 9 A Survey of National Legislation and Prosecutions for Crimes Against Humanity
- 10 Concluding Assessment: The Need for an International Convention
- Table of Authorities
- Table of Cases
- Index
- References
3 - Emergence in Positive International Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Legal Nature
- 2 Phenomenological Considerations
- 3 Emergence in Positive International Law
- 4 Post-Charter Developments
- 5 The Principles of Legality in the London Charter and Post-Charter Developments
- 6 Specific Contents
- 7 The Theories and Elements of Criminal Responsibility
- 8 Defenses and Exonerations
- 9 A Survey of National Legislation and Prosecutions for Crimes Against Humanity
- 10 Concluding Assessment: The Need for an International Convention
- Table of Authorities
- Table of Cases
- Index
- References
Summary
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
– Machiavelli, The Prince (1537).Early History
The genesis of CAH is in the Preambles of the First Hague Convention of 1899 on the Laws and Customs of War and expanded in the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 and in their annexed Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Preambles of the two conventions used the term “laws of humanity” and based their prescriptions on these inarticulated humanistic values.
Until 1945 the words used in the Preambles of the two Hague Conventions were the only references in conventional international law from which to draw on in formulating the term “crimes against humanity.” Though the Hague Conventions concerned war crimes in a very specific sense, these crimes derived from the larger meaning of violations of “the laws of humanity.” Thus, these words were intended to provide an overarching concept to protect against unspecified violations whose identification in positive international law was left to future normative development.
As the predecessor to the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1899 Hague Convention was the first comprehensive international instrument to develop rules derived from the customary practices of states in time of war.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Crimes against HumanityHistorical Evolution and Contemporary Application, pp. 86 - 166Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
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