War Criminals on Trial: An Inside View of the International Criminal Justice System

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Damien Scalia

War Criminals on Trial

An Inside View of the International Criminal Justice System

Damien Scalia

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English

Routledge
16 October 2025

War crimes; Criminology: legal aspects; International criminal law; Criminal justice law

Series: Transitional Justice

This book critically examines the practice of international criminal justice based on the experience of war criminals who have been tried for their crimes. Presenting the perspectives of those commonly referred to as ‘genocidaires’, ‘war criminals’ or ‘criminals against humanity’, this book presents their experience of international criminal justice, and its impact on them. By presenting their points of view and their feelings about justice, it becomes possible to describe the way in which this branch of justice is apprehended by the perpetrators of mass crimes, to produce testimony about the lived penal experience, and to analyse the functioning of this institution through a new prism: that of the persons standing trial. From this perspective, a new analysis of international justice is produced: one that reveals its aporias, as it demonstrates the difficulties international criminal justice faces insofar as the justifications that support it are not all confirmed, and as some of the expectations placed on it are shown to be difficult to reach, if not clearly unattainable. Based on over 60 interviews carried out over a period of twelve years with persons tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, this book offers a unique analysis of the working of international criminal justice. This interdisciplinary book will appeal to those with relevant interests in law, criminology, sociology and criminology.

By: Damien Scalia
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 520g
ISBN: 9781041017028
ISBN 10: 1041017022
Series: Transitional Justice
Pages: 184
Publication Date: 16 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction Part I. Meeting People Tried for Mass Crimes Chapter 1: Introducing a Singular Research Study Chapter 2. Expectations of International Criminal Justice Part II. Living the Penal Experience Chapter 3: Shared Values and Disappointments Chapter 4: Legal Narrative as the Only Valid Narrative Part III. Continuing the War in the Courtroom Chapter 5: Ruling Politics Out of Order Chapter 6: The Scapegoating Rhetoric Part IV. Respondents’ Words in Response to the Belief in Justice Chapter 7. Why Does Belief in International Criminal Justice Persist? Chapter 8. The Value and Validity of Respondents’ Words Conclusion: Despicable Subjects as Sources of Justice?

Damien Scalia is Professor in criminal law at the Université libre de Bruxelles, and invited Professor in international criminal law at the Université de Lausanne. After completing his PhD in (international) criminal law, he conducted post-doctoral research at Columbia Law School (New York, USA), at the Irish Center for Human Rights in Galway (Ireland), at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (Oxford University, UK) and at the Geneva Academy (Switzerland). He is co-founder and co-director of the Centre de recherche sur l’expérience de guerre.