<p>
<em>“</em>Defeating Impunity <em>collects strong, substantial new research, often providing the main (or only) English-language presentation of the underlying research in the history of war crimes trials. The editors achieve nuance in a sober and balanced assessment of ‘international justice,’ a topic which previously has inspired cynical dismissal.”</em> <strong>• Devin Pendas</strong>, Boston College</p>

Over the course of the long and violent twentieth century, only a minority of international crime perpetrators ever stood trial, and a central challenge of this era was the effort to ensure that not all these crimes remained unpunished. This required not only establishing a legal record but also courage, determination, and inventiveness in realizing justice. Defeating Impunity moves from the little-known trials of the 1920s to the Yugoslavia tribunal in the 2000s, from Belgium in 1914 to Ukraine in 1943, and to Stuttgart and Düsseldorf in 1975. It illustrates the extent to which the language of law drew an international horizon of justice.

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Over the course of the long and violent twentieth century, only a minority of the perpetrators of international crimes ever stood trial. In analyzing and documenting the challenge addressing that status of international justice and its realization, this collection uses an international perspective to take the reader through both little known and prominent trials.

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List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Chronology

Introduction: Defeating Impunity in Twentieth-Century Europe
Ornella Rovetta and Pieter Lagrou

Chapter 1. The Law of Military Occupation and the Belgian Trials after 1918
Thomas Graditzky

Chapter 2. The Claims of Belgian Deported Workers at the Paris Mixed Arbitral Tribunal in 1924
Arnaud Charon

Chapter 3. Coining Postwar Justice from the Margins: Exile Lawyers in London, 1941–1945
Kerstin von Lingen

Chapter 4. The Treasure Trove of the United Nations War Crimes Commission Archives, 1943—1949
Wolfgang Form

Chapter 5. Legal Imagination and Legal Realism: ‘Crimes against Humanity’ and the US Racial Question in 1945
Guillaume Mouralis

Chapter 6. Filling the Legal Void: Jewish Victims, German Offenders and Belgian Judges, 1942–1951
Marie-Anne Weisers

Chapter 7. Soviet Footage of War Crimes, 1941–1946: Between Propaganda and Judicial Evidence
Vanessa Voisin

Appendix 7.1: Circular Sent to the Chiefs of Cinema Front Groups by Fedor Vasilchenko, the Director of Newsreel Production, 8 September 1943 (Excepts)
Appendix 7.2: Circular Sent to the Chiefs of Cinema Front Groups by the Director of Newsreel Production Fedor Vasilchenko, 3 December 1943 (Excerpts)

Chapter 8. From Majdanek to Demjanjuk: Failures of Justice in Postwar Germany, 1958–2009
Rebecca Wittmann

Chapter 9. Force of Fact: Municipal Authorities, Victim Associations and Forensic Science at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Isabelle Delpla

Chapter 10. International Law in Action: The Role of the Legal Advisor in Operations in the Twenty-First Century
Chris De Cock

Conclusion
Ornella Rovetta and Pieter Lagrou

Index

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Pieter Lagrou has taught contemporary history at the Université libre de Bruxelles since 2003. He has published on the legacy of the Second World War in Europe, on war crime trials and contemporary European historiography. He is currently working on the histories of popular sovereignty since 1789.

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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781800732612
Publisert
2021-11-01
Utgiver
Berghahn Books
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
RES, P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
264

Biografisk notat

Ornella Rovetta is a post-doctoral researcher and lecturer in contemporary history at the Université libre de Bruxelles and Université Saint Louis. Her research interests include the history of international criminal justice and of Rwanda. She is the author of Un génocide au tribunal. Le Rwanda et la justice internationale and co-authored a radio documentary on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.