Criminology of international crimes
Frank Neubacher looks at theories of punishment in international criminal law from a criminologist's perspective. He addresses three interconnected issues: The purpose of punishment, the explanation of international crimes, and sentencing. As regards the former, he is a strong advocate of a com...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
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2021
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Why punish perpetrators of mass atrocities?
Year: 2021, Pages: 25-44 |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Frank Neubacher looks at theories of punishment in international criminal law from a criminologist's perspective. He addresses three interconnected issues: The purpose of punishment, the explanation of international crimes, and sentencing. As regards the former, he is a strong advocate of a combination of different preventive theories as rationale for (international) punishment, but adds elements of restorative justice. Regarding the explanation of international crimes, he distinguishes three levels: the macro-, meso- and micro-level, connected to the system, the group and the individual, respectively. For Neubacher, it is most important to emphasize that collective violence, in which international crimes are being committed, is a situational process. He explains that when it comes to mass atrocities the perpetrator’s behaviour is illegal, but socially not deviant. Finally, as regards the reaction to international crimes, Neubacher explains that for a deterrent effect to ensue, the certainty of punishment is decisive, not the severity. Regarding the sentencing decisions, he sees a disregard of the individual perpetrator’s circumstances and proposes a more nuanced model of liability (and, thus, culpability) which takes into account the hierarchical position of the perpetrators as well as his or her discretional power. |
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| ISBN: | 9781108475143 |
