Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

War Crimes Research Guide

Introduction & Places to Start
Treaties
Courts and Tribunals
Books & Key Authors
Journal Articles
Current Awareness Resources
Other Research Guides and Bibliographies

 

Introduction & Places to Start

This guide identifies basic sources for researching the legal aspects of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

Although the term "war crime" is often used to describe any atrocity committed in the course of an armed conflict, terms such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity are narrowly defined by law. A defendant can be accused of the war crime of rape, or the crime against humanity of rape. Likewise, unlawful wartime killing may be a war crime, a crime against humanity, or possibly genocide. To explore the legal intricacies of these crimes, see the Elements of Crimes from the International Criminal Court.

If you are new to this area of research, two good background sources to consult are International Criminal Law by Ilias Bantekas and Susan Nash [K5165 .B35 2007] and An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure by Robert Cryer [K5000 .I587 2007].

Treaties

The Genocide Convention, drafted in response to the human devastation of the Holocaust, established a legal understanding of genocide. Researchers of genocide studies will want to consult the recently published "legislative history" of the treaty in The Genocide Convention: The Travaux Préparatoires [K5302 .A92 2008].

Subsequent major treaties established the international tribunals that are in operation today -- these treaties are generally called "statutes." They delimitate the jurisdiction of the tribunals, outline the elements of crimes, and set procedural and evidentiary guidelines.

 

Courts and Tribunals

The Nuremberg Tribunal [Avalon Project materials] established a paradigm for the international prosecution of war crimes. Since the 1990s, international courts and tribunals have become the norm. Read more from Italian jurist and ICTY judge, Fausto Pocar, in The Proliferation of International Criminal Courts and Tribunals [full text]. The tribunals' official websites, along with primary sources materials and secondary literature provide insight into war crimes caselaw.

Official Websites

On the courts' websites you'll find case law, basic legal documents such as foundational treaties, indictments, rules of evidence and procedure, information on judges, and annual reports, statistics and other background materials.

Primary Source Materials

  • Westlaw has coverage of the ICTY and ICTR from 1995 in the database International Criminal Tribunal - Combined [INT-ICT]. LexisNexis does not have complete coverage of these or other international tribunals.
  • Netherlands Institute of Human Rights offers a searchable database of ICTY and ICTR materials.
  • Global War Crimes Tribunal Collection This growing series currently covers the ICTY, ICTR, ICC and Special Court for Sierra Leone. It is a source for trial transcripts, which are not all available online. (updated periodically) [KZ1190 .A2 G58 1997]
  • Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals (ICTY & ICTR) [KZ6310 .A5 1999]
  • Digest of Jurisprudence of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, 2003-2005
    [Reference KZ1208 .S53 L38 2007]
  • Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg) D804.G42 I55

Secondary Source Materials

  • Implementing International Humanitarian Law: From the Ad Hoc Tribunals to a Permanent International Criminal Court [KZ6471 .A39 2004]
  • International Criminal Practice : The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the East Timor Special Panel for Serious Crimes, War Crimes Prosecutions in Kosovo
    [KZ6310 .J66 2003]
  • International Crimes and the Ad Hoc Tribunals [K5301 .M48 2005]
  • Internationalized Criminal Courts and Tribunals : Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia
    [KZ6310 .I584 2004]

Books & Key Authors

You'll find plenty of scholarship written on war crimes and international criminal law. As a novice researcher, it's easy to get overwhelmed. That's why it's useful to start with the most prominent scholars in the area. Once you check their writing, then you can expand your research to include the work of others. You can't go wrong with the following -

  • Ilias Bantekas, International Criminal Law (3rd ed.) [K5165 .B35 2007]
  • Ilias Bantekas, Principles of Direct and Superior Responsibility in International Humanitarian Law
    [KZ6471 .B36 2002]
  • M. Cherif Bassiouni, International Criminal Law (2nd ed.) [ K5165 .I58 1998] (updated regularly)
  • Yoram Dinstein, The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict [KZ6385 .D56 2004]
  • Knut Dörmann, Elements of War Crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court [K5301 .D64 2003]
  • John R.W.D. Jones, International Criminal Practice [KZ6310 .J66 2003]
    Covers ICTY, ICTR, ICC, SCSL, East Timor & Kosovo
  • William A. Schabas & Ramesh Thakur, Atrocities and International Accountability: Beyond Transitional Justice [K5301 .A978 2007]
  • William A. Schabas & Gideon Boas, International Criminal Law Developments in the Case Law of the ICTY [ KZ1203.A12 I5755 2003]
  • Dinah Shelton, Remedies in International Human Rights Law (2nd ed.) [K3240 .S53 2005]
 

Journal Articles

Scholarly articles on war crimes can be found in general law reviews as well as in specialized journals. For help finding law reviews, see our guide on Finding Articles in Law Reviews, Journals and Other Legal Periodicals. Indexes such as Index to Legal Periodicals (WilsonWeb, LexisNexis, Westlaw), Legal Resources Index (LexisNexis and Westlaw) and Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (online) can be especially useful. You may also want to browse these specialized journals:

 

Current Awareness Resources

Stay up-to-date with these news portals and blogs. Sites like these are also good to explore when searching for a paper topic.

  • War Crimes Prosecution Watch
    A bi-weekly e-newsletter prepared by the International Justice Practice of the Public International Law & Policy Group and the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Law. The publication collects official documents and articles from major news sources on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. Subscribing to this e-publication can save you a lot of time web searching.
  • Grotian Moment: The International War Crimes Trial Blog
    Another publication of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center and the Public International Law & Policy Group, this site features key documents, breaking news, and expert commentary on current trials. Find information here on the Khmer Rouge trials, the Charles Taylor trial, and others.
  • The Hague Justice Portal
    This extensive news portal provides information, updates, and research related to The Hague, the international criminal justice center of the world. The Hague is home to the ICJ, ICTY, and the ICC. The Charles Taylor trial is being held there, and the Appeals Chamber of the ICTR has a unit in the city. You can find timely and reliable information on all of these tribunals on this well-organized site.
  • Cambodia Tribunal Monitor
    The Khmer Rouge trials began in late March 2009. The Tribunal is currently hearing five cases. The Cambodia Tribunal Monitor features a blog, webcasts of trial proceedings, historical information on the Khmer Rouge, legal documents on the Tribunal, and expert commentary.
  • The Trial of Charles Taylor: International Criminal Justice in the Making
    This site is maintained by a Sierra Leonean lawyer with funding from the Open Society Justice Initiative. It provides daily courtroom updates of the trial of former Liberian president, Charles Taylor.
 

Other Research Guides and Bibliographies

Didn't find what you're looking for in this guide? These others may help. What about bibliographies? They may seem old school, but having someone tell you what articles are available on your topic can be a great time saver.

AEB
July 2009


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