Foreword to the third edition

• Author: Charles C Jalloh
• Profession: Professor of Law, Florida International University, Miami Member, International Law Commission
• Pages: 27-30

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FOR EWORD

to the Third Edition

It is a delight to have been asked to wr ite a foreword to the third edition

of this importa nt book on international and t ransnational crimin al law.

Of course, at a global level, there are many introductory b ooks focusing

only on international criminal law (ICL), and there are also a handful

of books introducing readers to transnational cr iminal law (TCL). The

beauty of this outsta nding book is that it combines the two f‌ields in a

way that is accessible, yet elegant.

The authors of this book, Rob Currie and Joseph Rik hof, are among

only a few legal scholars who have rightly recogni zed the close rela-

tionship and intersection between ICL and TCL. For our purpose s, ICL

comprises the body of legal r ules and standard s that prohibits certain

types of conduct as criminal under intern ational law, such as geno-

cide and crimes again st humanity, and proposes various methods for

their investigation, prosecution, and puni shment. That system of law,

born out of the ashes of World War II, led to the infamous Nuremberg

Trials and now directly addre sses the criminal liabilit y of perpetrators

through primar y enforcement by states using their national courts.

When states fail to act, because they are unwilling, unable, or both,

international or hybrid cr iminal tr ibunals established for such pur-

poses may step in as pa rt of a secondary system t hat works to provide

a measure of crimi nal justice for the victim s.

TCL can be understood as a body of legal rule s addressing crimes,

usually under domestic law, whose def‌ining characteristic is enact ing

actual or potential transborder effects. Most of these crimes, such as