Antonio Cassese Prize for International Criminal Law Studies, 2003–2008

Extract

1. Introduction: Five Principal Themes

The introduction sets out five themes that frame the specific case studies that follow in subsequent chapters of the book. This section contains a short overview of these fives themes.

A. Criminal Liability of Corporate Actors for International Crimes

The book builds upon and significantly develops a growing body of literature focused on the liability of commercial actors for international crimes. In recent years, a range of policy-based organizations,¹ academics,² and the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor³ have highlighted the possibility of international criminal responsibility of business representatives or corporate entities within certain domestic jurisdictions. There is, however, a real need for a comprehensive exploration of these issues. This book uses three specific case studies to offer new theoretical insights to existing debates in both international and domestic criminal law. Specifically, the project demonstrates how the realities of commercial implication in international crimes offers new perspectives on: (i) the debate over the merit of civil versus criminal law remedies for corporate wrongdoing;⁴ and (ii) the comparative value of individual criminal liability of business representatives as compared with corporate criminal liability.⁵ Both bodies of literature frequently assume companies operate within a single perfect jurisdiction, ignoring the fact that some carry out business in foreign conflict zones.