Reducing genocide to law : definition, meaning, and the ultimate crime / Payam Akhavan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Akhavan, Payam, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in international and comparative law (Cambridge, England : 1996) ; 87.

Cambridge studies in international and comparative law ; 87

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Genocide.

Genocide (International law).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 191 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Could the prevailing view that genocide is the ultimate crime be wrong? Is it possible that it is actually on an equal footing with war crimes and crimes against humanity? Is the power of the word genocide derived from something other than jurisprudence? And why should a hierarchical abstraction assume such importance in conferring meaning on suffering and injustice? Could reducing a reality that is beyond reason and words into a fixed category undermine the very progress and justice that such labelling purports to achieve? For some, these questions may border on the international law equivalent of blasphemy. This original and daring book, written by a renowned scholar and practitioner who was the first Legal Advisor to the UN Prosecutor at The Hague, is a probing reflection on empathy and our faith in global justice.

Contents:

The power of a word

The taxonomy of crimes

The core elements of international crimes

A hierarchy of international crimes?

Naming the nameless crime

Who owns "genocide"?

Contesting "genocide" in jurisprudence

Silence, empathy, and the potentialities of jurisprudence.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

ISBN:

1-139-20936-1

1-107-22553-1

1-280-48495-0

1-139-22218-X

9786613579935

1-139-21737-2

1-139-02894-4

1-139-22389-5

1-139-21429-2

1-139-22046-2

OCLC:

775869814