Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T23:26:57.861Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Constructing International Crime: Lawyers, States, and the Origin of International Criminal Prosecution in the Interwar Period

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Anne Holthoefer
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explains the development of international crime as a legal category. I argue that states' pursuit of political rights claims empowers international lawyers to develop new legal categories to grant states new tools to pursue their interests. At the same time, lawyers have a stake in defending the autonomy of law from politics, thus pushing for the development of legal norms and institutions that go beyond the original state intent. States' turn to law thus begets more law, expanding the legal and institutional tools to solve international problems while simultaneously enforcing a commitment to principles of legality. To demonstrate the plausibility of the theory, the article studies the construction of the concept of an international crime in the interwar period (1919–1939). In response to the Allies' attempt to prosecute the German Emperor, international lawyers sought the codification of international criminal law and drafted enforcement mechanisms. The interwar legal debate not only introduced international crime into the legal and political vocabulary, it also legitimized a new set of institutional responses to violations of international law, namely, international criminal prosecution.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , Summer 2017 , pp. 711 - 743
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, Kenneth W., Keohane, Robert O., Moravcsik, Andrew, Slaughter, Anne‐Marie, and Snidal, Duncan. 2001. The Concept of Legalization. In Legalization in World Politics, ed. Goldstein, Judith, Kahler, Miles, Keohane, Robert O., and Slaughter, Anne‐Marie, 17–36. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Abbott, W. Kenneth, and Snidal, Duncan. 2012. Law, Legalization and Politics: An Agenda for the Next Generation of IR‐IL Scholars. In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations: The State of the Art, ed. Dunoff, Jeffrey L. and Pollack, Mark, 33–57. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Advisory Committee of Jurists. 1920. Tenth Meeting of the Third Committee, 16th December 1920. In League of Nations: The Records of the First Assembly. Meetings of the Committees. Vol. I. Geneva: League of Nations.Google Scholar
Advisory Committee of Jurists. 1980. League of Nations: The Records of the First Assembly Meetings of the Committees, Minutes of the Third Committee (Permanent Court of International Justice) June 16th–July 24th 1920. In An International Criminal Court: A Step Towards World Peace—A Documentary History and Analysis, Vol. I—Half a Century of Hope, ed. Ferencz, Benjamin B. London: Oceana Publications.Google Scholar
Alexander, G. Glover. 1921. International Criminal Law. Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 3 (4): 237–44.Google Scholar
Alfaro, Richard J. 1950. Report: The Question of International Criminal Jurisdiction. Yearbook of the International Law Commission. Summary Records and Documents of the First Session Including the Report to the General Assembly Vol. II (A/CN.4/15):1–7.Google Scholar
Bass, Jonathan Gary. 2000. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bellot, Hugh H. L. 1922. A Permanent International Criminal Court. In Report of the Thirty First Conference held at the Palace of Justice in Buenos Aires, August 24–30, 1922, ed. International Law Association, 63–86. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
Bellot, Hugh H. L. 1924. Draft Statute for the Permanent International Criminal Court. In Report of the Thirty Third Conference held at the Riddarhuset and at the Riksdaghuset, Stockholm, September 8–13, 1924, ed. International Law Association, 75–87. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
Benton, Lauren. 2005. Legal Spaces of Empire: Piracy and the Origins of Ocean Regionalism. Comparative Studies in Society and History 47 (4): 700–24.Google Scholar
Benton, Lauren. 2011. Abolition and Imperial Law, 1790–1820. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 39 (3): 355–74.Google Scholar
Berlin Conference. 1885. General Act of the Conference of Berlin Concerning the Congo, February 26, 1885. The American Journal of International Law, 1909 3 (1): 7–25.Google Scholar
Borgwardt, Elizabeth. 2012. Constitutionalizing Human Rights: The Rise and Rise of the Nuremberg Principles. In The Human Rights Revolution. An International History, ed. Iriye, Akira, Goedde, Petra, and Hitchcock, William, 73–92. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Brierly, J. L. 1927. Do We Need an International Criminal Court? British Yearbook of International Law 8:81–88.Google Scholar
Brunnée, Jutta, and Toope, Stephen J. 2010. Legitimacy and Legality in International Law: An Interactional Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brunnée, Jutta, and Toope, Stephen J. 2013. Constructivism and International Law. In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations: The State of the Art, ed. Dunoff, Jeffrey L. and Pollack, Mark, 119–45. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brussels Conference. 1890. General Act of the Brussels Conference Relative to the African Slave Trade, signed at Brussels, July 2, 1890. London: Printed for H. M. Stationery Off., by Harrison and Sons, 1892.Google Scholar
Caloyanni, M. A. 1928. An International Criminal Court. Transactions of the Grotius Society 14:69–85.Google Scholar
Cassese, Antonio. 2003. International Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Coates, Benjamin A. 2010. Transatlantic Advocates: American International Law and U.S. Foreign Relations, 1898–1919. PhD diss., Department of History, Columbia University, New York.Google Scholar
Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalties. 1920. The American Journal of International Law 14 (1): 95–154.Google Scholar
Crawford, James. 2002. The Work of the International Law Commission. In The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, ed. Cassese, Antonio, Gaeta, Paola, and Jones, John R. W. D, Vol. I, 23–33. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Department van Buitenlandsche Zaken, Netherlands. 1920. Mededeelingen van Den Minister van Buitenlandsche Zaken Aan de Staten General Juni 1919–April 1920. Netherlands.Google Scholar
Dickinson, Edwin D. 1925. Is the Crime of Piracy Obsolete? Harvard Law Review 28 (3): 334–60.Google Scholar
Donnedieu, Henri de Vabres. 1922. Introduction à l'étude du droit pénal international; essai d'histoire et de critique sur la compétence criminelle dans les rapports avec l'étranger. Paris: L. Tenin.Google Scholar
Donnedieu, Henri de Vabres. 1928. Les Principes Modernes Du Droit Pénal International. Paris: Recueil Sirey.Google Scholar
Ferencz, Benjamin B. 1980. An International Criminal Court: A Step Towards World Peace—A Documentary History and Analysis—Half a Century of Hope, Vol. I. London/Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications.Google Scholar
Finch, George A. 1921. Superior Orders and War Crimes. American Journal of International Law 15 (3): 440–45.Google Scholar
Finnemore, Martha, and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. International Norm Dynamics and Political Change. International Organization 52 (4): 325–47.Google Scholar
Foltz, David Albert. 1978. The War Crimes Issue at the Paris Peace Conference. PhD diss., Department of History, American University, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Franck, Thomas M. 1990. The Power of Legitimacy Among Nations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fuller, Lon. 1964. The Morality of Law. New Haven, CT/London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Garner, James W. 1920. Punishment of Offenders Against the Laws and Customs of War. American Journal of International Law 14 (1/2): 70–94.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Judith, Kahler, Miles, , Robert O. Keohane, and Slaughter, Anne‐Marie, eds. 2001. Legalization and World Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Gregory, S. S. 1920. Criminal Responsibility of Sovereigns for Willful Violations of the Laws of War. Virginia Law Review 6 (6): 400–21.Google Scholar
Guzman, Andrew. 2008. How International Law Works. A Rational Choice Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hague Convention. 1907. Final Act and Conventions of the Second Peace Conference, October 18, 1907. The American Journal of International Law, 1908 2 (1/2): 1–43.Google Scholar
Hart, H. L. A. 1961. The Concept of Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hitchcock, William I. 2012. Human Rights and the Laws of War: The Geneva Conventions of 1949. In The Human Rights Revolution. An International History, ed. Iriye, Akira, Goedde, Petra, and Hitchcock, William I. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hudson, Manley O. 1944. International Tribunals: Past and Future. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Google Scholar
International Law Association. 1922. Report of the Thirty First Conference held at the Palace of Justice in Buenos Aires, August 24–30, 1922. Vol. 1. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
International Law Association. 1924. Report of the Thirty Third Conference held at the Riddarhuset and at the Riksdaghuset, Stockholm, September 8–13, 1924. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
International Law Association. 1926. Report of the Thirty Fourth Conference held at the Imperial Palace and the Chamber of Commerce, Vienna, August 5–11, 1926. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
International Law Commission. 1950. Draft Code of Offences Against the Peace and Security of Mankind. Yearbook of the International Law Commission. Summary Records and Documents of the First Session Including the Report to the General Assembly Vol. I (A/CN. 4/SER.A/1950/Add. 1):249–360.Google Scholar
Kellogg‐Briand Pact. 1929. Treaty Between the United States and Other Powers Providing for the Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy. United States Statutes at Large Vol. 46 (Part 2).Google Scholar
Koskenniemi, Martti. 2001. The Gentle Civilizer of Nations. The Rise and Fall of International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kellogg‐Briand Pact. 2005. From Apology to Utopia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lansing, Robert. 1919. Some Legal Questions of the Peace Conference. American Journal of International Law 13 (4): 631–50.Google Scholar
Lansing, Robert, and Brown Scott, James. 1920. Annex II Memorandum of Reservations Presented by the Representatives of the United States to the Report of the Commission on Responsibilities. American Journal of International Law 14 (1): 127–51.Google Scholar
Larnaude, Ferdinand, and Lapradelle, de. 1918. Examen de la responsabilité pénale de l'Empereur Guillaume I. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.Google Scholar
League of Nations. 1924. Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes [Geneva Protocol], October 2, 1924. The American Journal of International Law, 1925 19 (1): 9–17.Google Scholar
League of Nations. 1937. Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism, November 16th 1937. Série de Publications de la Société´ des Nations, Questions juridiques Vol. 10. Geneva: League of Nations.Google Scholar
Leonard, Eric K. 2005. The Onset of Global Governance. International Relations Theory and the International Criminal Court. Aldershot/Burlington: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Lord, Cave, Niblack, Admiral, De Montmorency, Prof, Bower, Graham, and Jones, Atherley. 1922. War Crimes and Their Punishment. Transactions of the Grotius Society 8:xix–xliii.Google Scholar
Martinez, Jenny S. 2012. The Slave Trade and the Origin of International Human Rights Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Miers, Suzanne. 1998. Slavery and the Slave Trade as International Issues 1890–1939. Slavery & Abolition 19 (2): 16–37.Google Scholar
Moyn, Samuel. 2014. Human Rights and the Uses of History. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Myers, Denys P. 1927. Responsibility for Violation of International Law. American Political Science Review 21 (1): 140–44.Google Scholar
Norton, Henry Kittredge. 1929. International Law and International Policy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 144:105–11.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Arthur. 1958. Concise History of International Law. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, Lassa. 1905. International Law: A Treatise, Vol. I, ed. Ronald Roxburgh. London: Longman, Green and Co.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, Lassa. 1920. International Law: A Treatise, Vol. I, 3 ed., ed. Roxburgh, Ronald. London: Longmans, Green and Co.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, Lassa. 1952. International Law: A Treatise, Vol. II, 7th ed., ed. Lauterpacht, Hersch. New York: David McKay Company.Google Scholar
Overy, Richard. 2003. The Nuremberg Trials: International Law in the Making. In From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice, ed. Sands, Philippe, 1–29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peaslee, Amos J. 1916. The Sanction of International Law. American Journal of International Law 10 (2): 328–36.Google Scholar
Pella, Vespasien. 1926. La Criminalité collective des états et le droit pénal de l'avenir. Bucharest: Imprimerie de L'Etat.Google Scholar
Pella, Vespasien. 1980. Annual Meeting of the Interparliamentary Union. Annex to Resolution C. Fundamental Principles of an International Legal Code for the Repression of International Crimes. In An International Criminal Court. A Step Towards World Peace—A Documentary History and Analysis, Vol. I, ed. Ferenzc, Benjamin B. London/Dobbs Ferry: Oceana Publications.Google Scholar
Peters, Anne. 2013. Realizing Utopia as Scholarly Endeavour. European Journal of International Law 24 (2): 533–52.Google Scholar
Phillimore of Shiplake, Baron. 1922. An International Criminal Court and the Resolutions of the Committee of Jurists. British Yearbook of International Law 3:79–86.Google Scholar
Politis, Nicolas Socrate. 1927. Les Nouvelles Tendances Du Droit International. Paris: Librairie Hachette.Google Scholar
Posner, Eric A., and Goldsmith, Jack L. 2005. The Limits of International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Posner, Eric A., and Goldsmith, Jack L. 2006. The New International Law Scholarship. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law 34:463–83.Google Scholar
Price, Richard. 1995. A Genealogy of the Chemical Weapons Taboo. International Organization 49 (1): 73–103.Google Scholar
Rappaport, E. Stanislaus. 1932. The Problem of the Inter‐State Criminal Law. Transactions of the Grotius Society 18:41–64.Google Scholar
Reus‐Smit, Christian. 1999. The Moral Purpose of the State: Culture, Social Identity, and Institutional Rationality in International Relations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Reus‐Smit, Christian. 2004. The Politics of International Law. In The Politics of International Law, ed. Christian, Reus‐Smit, 14–44. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sacriste, Guillaume, and Vauchez, Antoine. 2007. The Force of International Law: Lawyers' Diplomacy on the International Scene in the 1920s. Law & Social Inquiry 32 (1): 83–107.Google Scholar
Saldaña, Quintiliano. 1925. La Justice Pénale Internationale. Paris: Hachette.Google Scholar
Sandholtz, Wayne. 2008. Dynamics of International Norm Change: Rules Against Wartime Plunder. European Journal of International Relations 14 (1): 101–31.Google Scholar
Schabas, William. 2010. The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schiff, Benjamin. 2008. Building the International Criminal Court. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schmoeckel, Matthias. 2000. The Internationalist as a Scientist and Herald: Lassa Oppenheim. European Journal of International Law 11 (3): 699–712.Google Scholar
Segesser, Daniel Marc. 2007. Unlawful Warfare Is Uncivilised: The International Debate on the Punishment of War Crimes. European Review of History 14 (2): 215–34.Google Scholar
Segesser, Daniel Marc, and Gessler, Myriam. 2005. Raphael Lemkin and the International Debate on the Punishment of War Crimes (1919–1948). Journal of Genocide Research 7 (4): 453–68.Google Scholar
Shklar, Judith. 1986. Legalism: Law, Morality and Political Trials. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Sikkink, Kathryn. 2011. The Justice Cascade: How Human Rights Prosecutions Are Changing the World. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law and Domestic Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth, and Danner, Allison. 2010. Credible Commitments and the International Criminal Court. International Organization 64 (2): 225–56.Google Scholar
Spiropoulos, J. 1950. Draft Code of Offences Against the Peace and Security of Mankind. In 1950 Yearbook of the International Law Commission. Summary Records and Documents of the First Session Including the Report to the General Assembly Vol. II (A/CN.4/25): 253–277.Google Scholar
Taylor, Telford. 1992. The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials. A Personal Memoire. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Treaty of Versailles. 1919. Treaty of Peace with Germany, June 28, 1919. American Journal of International Law 13 (3): 155–156.Google Scholar
United Nations General Assembly. 1948. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, December 9, 1948, United Nations Treaty Series, 78: 277.Google Scholar
United Nations. 1945. Charter of the International Military Tribunal—Annex to the Agreement for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis (‘London Agreement’) August 8th 1945. American Journal of International Law 39:258–264.Google Scholar
United Nations War Crimes Commission. 1948. History of the United Nations War Crimes Commission and the Development of the Laws of War. London: His Majesty's Stationary Office.Google Scholar
W. A. B. 1928a. Hugh H. L. Bellot, D. C. L. Transactions of the Grotius Society 14:xi–xiv.Google Scholar
W. A. B. 1928b. The Right Hon. Baron Phillimore of Shiplake, Baronet, P. C., D. C. L., LL. D., J. P. Transaction of the Grotius Society 14:v–ix.Google Scholar
Williams, Sir John Fischer. 1929. Current International Law and the League of Nations. London: Longmans, Green and Co.Google Scholar
Willis, James F. 1982. Prologue to Nuremberg: The Politics and Diplomacy of Punishing War Criminals of the First World War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Wright, Quincy. 1919. The Legal Liability of the Kaiser. American Political Science Review 13 (1): 120–28.Google Scholar