- Title Pages
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- William Schabas
- 1 Human Rights and International Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First Century
- 2 William Schabas, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and International Human Rights Law
- 3 The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a Victim-Oriented Treaty
- 4 The Politics of Sectarianism and Its Reflection in Questions of International Law and State Formation in the Middle East
- 5 International Law and the Death Penalty
- 6 The UN Optional Protocol on the Abolition of the Death Penalty
- 7 The Right to Life and the Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty
- 8 Progress and Trend of the Reform of the Death Penalty in China
- 9 Criminal Law Philosophy in William Schabas’s Scholarship
- 10 Is the ICC Focusing Too Much on Non-State Actors?
- 11 The Principle of Legality at the Crossroads of Human Rights and International Criminal Law
- 12 Revisiting the Sources of Applicable Law before the ICC
- 13 The ICC as a Work in Progress, for a World in Process
- 14 Legacy in International Criminal Justice
- 15 Torture by Private Actors and ‘Gold-Plating’ the Offence in National Law
- 16 Secrets and Surprises in the <i>Travaux Préparatoires</i> of the Genocide Convention
- 17 Perspectives on Cultural Genocide
- 18 Crimes against Humanity
- 19 A New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity Future Prospects
- 20 Justice outside of Criminal Courtrooms and Jailhouses
- 21 Toward Greater Synergy between Courts and Truth Commissions in Post-conflict Contexts
- 22 International Criminal Tribunals and Cooperation with States
- 23 The Arc toward Justice <i>and</i> Peace
- 24 The Maintenance of International Peace and Security through Prevention of Atrocity Crimes
- 25 Law and Film
- 26 The Role of Advocates in Developing International Law
- 27 Bill the Blogger
- Index
Crimes against Humanity
Crimes against Humanity
Repairing Title 18’s Blind Spots
- Chapter:
- (p.341) 18 Crimes against Humanity
- Source:
- Arcs of Global Justice
- Author(s):
Beth Van Schaack
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter identifies three unfortunate gaps in the United States’ federal penal code: The United States lacks a crimes against humanity statute, the war crimes statute has a limited jurisdictional reach and does not conform to US obligations under the Geneva Conventions, and the code lacks express mention of superior responsibility. These gaps significantly hinder the reach of the United States’ prosecutorial authorities and have led to instances of impunity, and incomplete accountability, where perpetrators within US jurisdiction cannot be prosecuted for their substantive crimes and must be dealt with through immigration and other remedies. The chapter then evaluates various proposed amendments to Title 18, drawing upon previous bills, international criminal law, and other federal statutes. It closes by arguing that discrete statutory amendments would enable the United States to exercise leadership in atrocities prevention and response without increasing the risk that US personnel will be subjected to litigation overseas.
Keywords: crimes against humanity, war crimes, superior responsibility, universal jurisdiction, atrocities prevention
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
- Title Pages
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- William Schabas
- 1 Human Rights and International Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First Century
- 2 William Schabas, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and International Human Rights Law
- 3 The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as a Victim-Oriented Treaty
- 4 The Politics of Sectarianism and Its Reflection in Questions of International Law and State Formation in the Middle East
- 5 International Law and the Death Penalty
- 6 The UN Optional Protocol on the Abolition of the Death Penalty
- 7 The Right to Life and the Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty
- 8 Progress and Trend of the Reform of the Death Penalty in China
- 9 Criminal Law Philosophy in William Schabas’s Scholarship
- 10 Is the ICC Focusing Too Much on Non-State Actors?
- 11 The Principle of Legality at the Crossroads of Human Rights and International Criminal Law
- 12 Revisiting the Sources of Applicable Law before the ICC
- 13 The ICC as a Work in Progress, for a World in Process
- 14 Legacy in International Criminal Justice
- 15 Torture by Private Actors and ‘Gold-Plating’ the Offence in National Law
- 16 Secrets and Surprises in the <i>Travaux Préparatoires</i> of the Genocide Convention
- 17 Perspectives on Cultural Genocide
- 18 Crimes against Humanity
- 19 A New Global Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity Future Prospects
- 20 Justice outside of Criminal Courtrooms and Jailhouses
- 21 Toward Greater Synergy between Courts and Truth Commissions in Post-conflict Contexts
- 22 International Criminal Tribunals and Cooperation with States
- 23 The Arc toward Justice <i>and</i> Peace
- 24 The Maintenance of International Peace and Security through Prevention of Atrocity Crimes
- 25 Law and Film
- 26 The Role of Advocates in Developing International Law
- 27 Bill the Blogger
- Index
