Principles of direct and superior responsibility in international humanitarian law

Book excerpt: Now available as an ebook for the first time, Bantekas's 2002 title on the forms of criminal responsibility arising from violations of international humanitarian law examines the evolution of personal responsibility and its contemporary application to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It traces the origin and development of such concepts as direct participation, ordering, complicity and inciting. The work includes extensive analysis of the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the International Criminal Court, as well as a variety of other legal material. Hans-Peter Gasser, then editor of the International Review of the Red Cross, describes the book in his Foreword as 'an invaluable contribution to a better understanding of the role that criminal law can play in efforts to enhance respect for the rights of victims of violence and war'. This title in the Melland Schill Studies in International Law series is a useful text for all those who wish to understand the principles of criminal responsibility in international humanitarian law.