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International Criminal Justice - LAW00067M

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  • Department: The York Law School
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This module provides students with an in-depth examination of International Criminal Justice. The course will enable students to critically engage with:

  • The development, content and application of the laws that govern international criminal justice, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

  • The socio-political and historical foundations of international criminal justice and its relation to global power dynamics.

  • The accountability mechanisms for international crimes, both domestic and international, including the International Criminal Court.

  • The main challenges and critiques to the international criminal justice system and its potential alternatives, such as transformative justice, truth and reconciliation mechanisms and abolitionism.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

This module aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the legal, socio-political and historical aspects of international criminal justice, as well as the challenges and alternatives to its current practice. This module is part of the overall LLM programme, which aims to enable students to develop new and further critical perspectives on law, whilst progressively developing core academic and legal skills.

International criminal justice is a complex and contested field. On the one hand, the international community has developed an unprecedented capacity to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity both domestically and internationally. This reflects the increasing normalisation of international criminal law over the last thirty years. On the other hand, many countries have expressed concerns about the selectivity or neocolonialism of international criminal prosecutions, and their impact on peace and reconciliation. Moreover, the context of police brutality, harsh prison conditions and mass incarceration across many regions of the world has raised questions about the implications of pursuing global justice through punitive and legalistic approaches. Some scholars have, thus, called for imagining alternative, more transformative ways of protecting human rights and ensuring accountability.

This module will introduce students to some of these key debates, by providing an in-depth study of the following topics:

  • The development, content and application of the laws that govern international criminal justice, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

  • The socio-political and historical foundations of international criminal justice and its relation to global power dynamics.

  • The accountability mechanisms for international crimes, both domestic and international, including the International Criminal Court.

  • The main challenges and critiques to the international criminal justice system and its potential alternatives, such as transformative justice, truth and reconciliation mechanisms and abolitionism.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students are expected to be able to:

  • Demonstrate deep understanding of the legal framework, both domestic and international, underpinning international criminal justice.

  • Show high level of knowledge of the socio-political and historical foundations of international criminal justice and apply this knowledge in their core assessments.

  • Demonstrate a clear understanding of the roles and limitations of accountability mechanisms, both domestic and international, in the practice of international (criminal) justice.

  • Critically evaluate the key issues facing the field of international criminal justice, including the questions of transformative justice, double-standards, neocolonialism and abolitionism.

  • Critically reflect on their learning and identify ways of improvement.

  • Effectively communicate their learning in this course both orally and through written assessment.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Students will be assessed through a 3,000-word essay worth 100% of their final mark. The length of this essay will enable students to pursue a topic among three possible choices in depth, drawing on both course materials and further research to demonstrate the learning outcomes of this topic. Students will receive written feedback for this essay.

Formative assessment will be provided through reaction papers on the essential readings for the seminars and informal presentations during seminars. Students will receive written feedback on the reaction papers as well as oral feedback from the tutor and fellow class members.

Indicative reading

The recommended textbooks for this module are:

  • Cryer R, Robinson D and Vasiliev S, An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure (4th ed, Oxford University Press 2019).

  • Stahn C, A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law (Cambridge University Press 2018).

Background Reading List

  • Clarke KM, Fictions of Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Challenge of Legal Pluralism in Sub-Saharan Africa (Cambridge University Press 2009)

  • DeFalco R, Invisible Atrocities: The Aesthetic Biases of International Criminal Justice (Cambridge University Press 2022)

  • De Vos C, Kendall S and Stahn C (eds), Contested Justice: The Politics and Practice of International Criminal Court Interventions (Cambridge University Press 2015)

  • Drumbl MA, Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law (Cambridge University Press 2007)

  • Engle K, Miller Z and Davis DM (eds), Anti-Impunity and the Human Rights Agenda (Cambridge University Press 2016)

  • Guilfoyle D, International Criminal Law (Oxford University Press 2016)

  • Heller KJ and others (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Criminal Law (Oxford University Press 2020)

  • Lavrysen L and Mavronicola N (eds), Coercive Human Rights (Hart Publishing 2020)

  • Lohne K, Advocates of Humanity: Human Rights NGOs in International Criminal Justice (Oxford University Press 2019)

  • McMillan N, Imagining the International: Crime, Justice, and the Promise of Community (Stanford University Press 2020)

  • Schwöbel C, Marketing Global Justice: The Political Economy of International Criminal Law (Cambridge University Press 2021)

  • Schwöbel C (eds), Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law: An Introduction (Routledge 2014)


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.