Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity

Misconceptions and Confusion in French Law and Practice

Caroline Fournet author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:31st Jan '13

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity cover

This book explores the ambiguities of the French law of genocide by exposing the inexplicable dichotomy between a progressive theory and an overly conservative practice. Based on the observation that the crime of genocide has remained absent from French courtrooms to the benefit of crimes against humanity, this research dissects the reasons for this absence, reviewing and analysing the potential legal obstacles to the judicial use of the law of genocide before contemplating the definitional impact of this judicial reluctance and the consequent confusion between the two crimes. Whilst it uses the French law of genocide and related case law on crimes against humanity as its focal points, the book further adopts a more general standpoint, suggesting that the French misunderstandings of the crime of genocide might ultimately be symptomatic of a more widespread misconception of the crime of genocide as a crime perpetrated against 'a group'.

It is a work which will be of central interest to those working in the specialised field of international criminal law but it undoubtedly has value for those working in the fields of transitional justice and legal systems and methods and is a thoughtful contribution to the academy. -- Thérèse O'Donnell * Law and Politics Book Review, Volume 23, Number 12 *

ISBN: 9781849463348

Dimensions: 234mm x 156mm x 10mm

Weight: 423g

168 pages