Since after the Second World War, the crime of aggression is - along
with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes - a "core crime"
under international law. However, despite a formal recognition of
aggression as a matter of international criminal law and the
reinforcement of the international legal regulation of the use of force
by States, numerous international armed conflicts occurred but no one
was ever prosecuted for aggression since 1949. This book comprehensively
analyses the historical development of the criminalisation of
aggression, scrutinises in a detailed manner the relevant jurisprudence
of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals as well as of the Nuremberg
follow-up trials, and makes proposals for a more successful prosecution
for aggression in the future. In identifying customary international law
on the subject, the volume draws upon a wealth of applicable sources of
national criminal law and puts forward a useful classification of
States´ legislative approaches towards the criminalisation of aggression
at the national level. It also offers a detailed analysis of the current
international legal regulation of the use of force and of the Rome
Statute´s substantive and procedural provisions pertaining to the
exercise of the International Criminal Court´s jurisdiction with respect
to the crime of aggression, after 1 January 2017.