Crime and Global Justice: Book launch and discussion

Daniele Archibugi and Alice Pease discuss with Alejandro Colas (Birkbeck College, UoL), Penny Green (Queen Mary, UoL) and William A. Schabas (Middlesex University London) their latest book Crime and Global Justice. The Dynamics of International Punishment (2018).

Over the last quarter of a century a new system of global criminal justice has emerged. But how successful has it been? Are we witnessing a new era of cosmopolitan justice or are the old principles of victors' justice still in play? The book of Daniele Archibugi and Alice Pease offers a vibrant and thoughtful analysis of the successes and shortcomings of the global justice system from 1945 to the present day.
Some spectacular trials of notorious war criminals, including Augusto Pinochet, Slobodan MiloÅević, Radovan Karadić, Saddam Hussein and Omar al-Bashir, help to assess the efficacy of the new dynamics of international punishment and the extent to which they can operate independently, without the interference of powerful governments and their representatives. Can judicial devices really help to protect human rights?

Novels and films often offer an insightful view of the incompatible visions of the perpetrators and the victims of abuses. To what extent can reconciliation be achieved? And how could civil society and human rights activists contribute to a shared vision of justice?

The book launch will be accompanied by film screenings and followed by a wine reception. Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the evening.

This event is supported and organized by the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities.