Richard Gaskins is Joseph M. Proskauer Professor of Law and Social Welfare at Brandeis University. He spent the past decade designing and directing student exchange programs in The Hague, which combined academic theory with hands-on practicums in courts and NGO's. He holds a Ph.D. (Philosophy) and J.D. from Yale University.
'Richard Gaskins provides a fine introduction to the workings of the International Criminal in this immensely readable account of some of the first prosecutions, presenting the legal dimension but also the drama both inside and outside the courtroom in this remarkable laboratory of international justice.' William A. Schabas, Professor of international law, Middlesex University London and Professor of international criminal law and human rights, Leiden University 'When confronted with the workings of any new court, the uninitiated need confident, articulate guides. In Gaskins, readers have one who knows his stuff but also understands, from long experience working with students, exactly where they are likely to struggle. Compassionate yet incisive, he explains where the high-minded idealism of the human rights world grates against the frustrating, banal realities of evidence-collection and the administration of justice in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's an account drafted by an expert with a big heart, a meticulous grasp of the workings of universal law, and an empathetic understanding of the vagaries of human behaviour.' Michela Wrong, author of In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz and It's Our Turn to Eat