In this episode I speak with Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the ICC and Distinguished International Jurist at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University in Canada. We discuss why the ICC cannot prosecute crime of aggression in Ukraine and what some of the better alternatives that are currently being debated, as well as the jurisdiction and immunity issues that might arise for some forms of tribunal established for that purpose. We also discuss how other war crimes should be prosecuted, how to think about the claims of genocide. More broadly, we discuss how the war might provide an impetus for improving the international order, beginning with the establishment of a right to peace, amending the Rome Statute to expand the jurisdiction of the Court for the crime of aggression, restoring the jus ad bellum regime, and generally strengthening international criminal justice. A wide ranging and fascinating discussion!
Materials:
– “A Pheonix Moment? International Law After Ukraine,” David B. Goodman Lecture, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, April 2022.
– “Immunity Before International Courts: How There Never Was,” lecture, Western University, Nov. 2021.
Reading Recommendations:
– Documents and records of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 (link is to only one online source to archival material).
– Documents and records of the London Conference, 1945. (link is to only one online source to archival material).