The ILC's Contribution to International Criminal Law

Abstract

Since its first session in 1949, the International Law Commission has completed work on four topics relating to international criminal law. Its contribution thereby to the development of the field has been mixed. Its work on international criminal law has variously succeeded and failed for much the same reasons as has its work in other areas. The difference has come down to a combination of the doctrinal expertise, technical facility, and management and diplomatic skills of the relevant Special Rapporteur or Working Group, to the modest ambition and realism of the text, to the political will of the General Assembly as such and of UN Member States, and to timing, which in turn has mostly been a matter of luck. These and other factors have played out in different ways in relation to each of the four topics.

Keywords: International Law Commission, International Criminal Law

JEL Classification: K33