Individual Criminal Liability for the International Crime of Aggression

The chequered history of the criminalisation of aggression as a crime under international law has reached an important milestone with the adoption of the Kampala Resolution on the Crime of Aggression (2010). This resolution provides for the definition of the crime of aggression to be included in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as for conditions for the exercise of ICC jurisdiction over the crime.

The second edition of this volume contains an overview and discussion of the historical and normative processes (legal and political) that culminated in the adoption of the Kampala Resolution. The different components of the resolution are critically assessed against the background of the various political and legal responses to aggression, while taking into account contemporary developments in the field of international criminal law.

The volume is primarily but not exclusively concerned with the crime of aggression under the Rome Statute. It also includes a chapter on national and regional criminal justice responses to aggression, notably developments concerning the amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, which also provides for the criminalisation of aggression.


About the first edition
‘A successful attempt to provide a working definition of the crime of aggression and the conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC thereon. At the same time, it purports to trace the historical development of the norm of aggression and analyse the problematic issues concerning its definition. Using accessible style and language, the author correctly grasps the need for a two-sided approach to aggression, from the point of view of states, as well as of individual criminal responsibility, and touches upon the critical issue of the connection between maintenance of international peace and security and international criminal justice. […]the book provides a thorough and concise analysis of the elements of aggression, one of the most controversial crimes in international criminal law and pinpoints its place in the complex scheme of interplay between collective security and international criminal justice. […] the value of the present title lies in its contribution to the ongoing debate on the interrelation between state and individual responsibility for international crimes – a debate that seems far from being settled.’
Irena Giorgou in 2012 JICJ 712