The Crime of Rape in International Criminal Law

The issue of rape has never really been investigated as an international crime until the recent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Through an overview of case law and history, this book reconstructs the way in which the issue of rape has been defined and pursued at the international leve [...]
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The issue of rape has never really been investigated as an international crime until the recent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Through an overview of case law and history, this book reconstructs the way in which the issue of rape has been defined and pursued at the international level. The transition from the simple side effect of war crimes to actual evidence of them, up to being recognized as an integral part of many crimes under international law - therefore not necessarily linked to an ongoing conflict - has been a long and tortuous passage. Along this path, the case law of the first two ad hoc tribunals has provided a significant and important contribution, which has then been largely incorporated by the Statute of the International Criminal Court, thus favoring the spread of the new conception of the crime at the international level. The book will deepen the way objective and subjective elements of the crime of rape have been identified by analyzing both the points now undisputed, as well as those still under debate, such as the issue of "non consent." There are still many pending cases before the two courts which include rape in their indictment, therefore it is possible that new ideas may come from the new international jurisprudence. However, in the last decade, the notion of the crime of rape seems to have not been crystallized, but at least it has been consolidated around the definition incorporated in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Certainly, at the moment, there is a much clearer vision than there was 10 or 20 years ago. (Series: Issues in International Criminal Law)