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Thematic Library on Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law

Book PFICL 1 | Book PFICL 2 | Book PFICL 3 | Conference programme, films and podcasts | Allott policy brief | Book PS 46 by Song Tianying | Book PS 47 by G.M. Ekeløve-Slydal

This online thematic library includes chapters of three anthologies in the series Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law and two single-author TOAEP volumes (the monograph Legal Construction of Common Humanity: Human Agency in a Cosmopolitan War Crimes Law by Song Tianying, and the essay collection Norm Efficacy and Justification in International Criminal Law by Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal, both published in 2025). Theoretical approaches can create constructive common ground where actors from different, increasingly polarised, backgrounds can unite in a common concern to strengthen and develop further international criminal law, transcending rivalries and contestation between nation-state governments.

The first volume in the trilogy – Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Correlating Thinkers (2018, edited by Morten Bergsmo and Emiliano J. Buis) – invites us to revisit some well-recognized political and other thinkers, exploring and correlating their main thoughts with the foundations of contemporary international criminal law. More than a mere history of ideas, such cross-fertilisation holds the promise of broadening the discourse and may offer fresh perspectives in an emerging sub-discipline of philosophy of international criminal law.

The second volume – Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Foundational Concepts (2019, edited by Morten Bergsmo and Emiliano J. Buis) – identifies and discusses some doctrinal building blocks that may be considered as foundational to the discipline of international criminal law. Not nearly exhaustive, the editors would like to expand the first two volumes with more thinkers and concepts, respectively, in future editions.

The third volume – Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Legally-Protected Interests (2022, edited by Morten Bergsmo, Emiliano J. Buis and Song Tianying) – supplements the earlier correlational and doctrinal analyses with discussions on fundamental interests or values protected by international criminal law. It considers notions such as ‘community interest’, ‘legally-protected interest’ and ‘legal good’ in the context of international criminal law. The authors assess main interests currently protected by international criminal law (including ‘humanity’ and ‘international peace and security’), their characteristics and inter-relations. Chapters then zoom in on supplementary interests that should receive further recognition by international criminal law, among them ‘reconciliation’, ‘solidarity’ and ‘unity of humankind’. A growing sense of environmental and security threats to our survival invites us to afford the value of ‘unity of humankind’ a greater measure of affirmation also through international criminal law.

This is a discourse that should not be constrained to recognition of ecocide or other contenders as the next core international crime as such. Nor should the discussion be dominated by a small group of gatekeepers who may have participated in the making of the provisions in the Statute of the International Criminal Court on subject-matter jurisdiction. An inclusive, broad discourse is called for. It should not be limited to interests or values that could alone constitute the centre of a new international crime as such. And every stone should be turned to ensure that participants from outside the Western European and Other States Group (WEOG) can play a prominent role.

The contributions in this thematic library are linked to below, together with films of project-conference presentations for the first three volumes. The library is dynamic so further contributions are invited. Admitted texts will first be published either in TOAEP’s Policy Brief Series (shorter texts, between 4,200 and 4,400 words) or the Occasional Paper Series (in which case it may subsequently appear as a chapter in a TOAEP book), and then be added to the online library.

The authors in the first edition of the three project-volumes were selected pursuant to a public call for papers and through the proceedings of a conference in New Delhi (25-26 August 2017), co-organized by the Centre for International Law Research and Policy (CILRAP), the Indian Law Institute, University of Delhi Campus Law Centre, the Indian Society of International Law, National Law University, Delhi, O.P. Jindal Global University, Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, Peking University International Law Institute, Waseda University Law School, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, the University of Nottingham, and the Institute for International Peace and Security Law, with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Nuremberg Principles Academy.

Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Correlating Thinkers
Edited by Morten Bergsmo and Emiliano J. Buis

Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Foundational Concepts
Edited by Morten Bergsmo and Emiliano J. Buis

Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Legally-Protected Interests
Edited by Morten Bergsmo, Emiliano J. Buis and Song Tianying

Legal Construction of Common Humanity: Human Agency in a Cosmopolitan War Crimes Law
By Song Tianying

  • Foreword by Nehal Bhuta
  • Foreword by Claus Kreß
  • Introduction: Why a Cosmopolitan War Crimes Law?
  • The Universal, the Individual, the Rational: A Cosmopolitan Approach to War Crimes Law
  • Social Foundations of War Crimes Law: Conceptions of a Cosmopolitan Community
  • Cosmopolitan Values and Criminalization in the Context of War
  • From Cosmopolitan Law to Social Psychology: The Individual as Source of Value and Evil
  • Influence of the Military Institution on the Perpetrator
  • Influence of Combat Environment on the Perpetrator
  • A Cosmopolitan Criminal Law’s Response to Human Vulnerabilities in War
  • Conclusion: Unique Paradoxes of a Cosmopolitan War Crimes Law

Norm Efficacy and Justification in International Criminal Law
By Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal

  • Preface
  • Subordinates’ Responsibility in International Criminal Law in Light of Western Philosophies of Freedom and Responsibility
  • Broader Normative Bases for Religious Leaders to Prevent Hate Speech
  • Jeremy Bentham’s Legacy: A Vision of an International Law for the Greatest Happiness of All Nations
  • Sir Thomas More and Integrity in Justice
  • Past Wrongdoing Against Romani and Sámi in Norway and the Prism of Modern International Criminal Law and Human Rights
  • ICTY Shifts Have Made Its Credibility Quake

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