This book assesses recent developments in international law seeking to bring an end to impunity by bringing to justice those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The book was originally conceived while the editors were engaged, in different capacities, in proceedings relating to the detention of Senator Pinochet in London. The vigorous public debate that attended that case-and related developments in international criminal justice, such as the creation of the International Criminal Court and the trial of former President Milosevic-demonstrate the close connections between the...

The high civilian death toll in protracted conflicts such as those in Syria or Iraq appears to demonstrate how little the international legal order has to offer to civilians at risk. A recent conference of states convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross referred to 'an institutional vacuum in the area of international humanitarian law implementation'. Yet both international humanitarian law and the law of human rights establish a series of rights that, at least in theory, are intended to protect civilians. But which law or laws apply in a given situation and what are the...