Dr. Gerhard Werle is a professor at the Humboldt University, Berlin, holding the chair for German and International criminal law, criminal law procedure and legal contemporary history. Together with his collaborators at Humboldt – Florian Jessberger, Wulf Burchards, Volker Nerlich, and Belinda Cooper of World Policy Institute, New York – Professor Merle has produced a highly methodical textbook on the principles of international criminal law in the thorough German scientific tradition. The volume discusses ‘the norms that form the basis for individual criminal responsibility under international law’ (page V). The book is divided into six parts, each beginning with a summary of recent legal literature in English, German and French (up-to-date as of August 2004). The appendices contain 80 pages of texts and references to concrete cases. A detailed index, tables of cases, statutes and international instruments refers the user to the marginal numbers on each page. As such, the book greatly facilitates retrieval.

The six parts contain Foundations, General Principles, and then turn to the substantive core crimes of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and the Crime of Aggression according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The author deals with all legal aspects of international criminal law, bases his interpretation of the ICC statute and supports his position with customary law: cases from the Tribunals on Former Yugoslavia, on Rwanda, the international military tribunals of Nuremberg and Tokyo, the Permanent Court of Justice and national courts. Discussion is not really taken on except in footnotes that refer to different views. From the book, it becomes evident that international criminal law generally developed into a system of legal norms that indeed is usable, though the interpretation shows a rather optimistic tendency.

Political scientists and historians would have loved a more elaborate discussion of specific issues, based on reality rather than principles, such as the crucial problem of obtaining adequate evidence (e.g. the Milosevic case) or testimonies on war crimes (e.g. victims of rape were often ashamed to give evidence at all), which have proved hard nuts to crack in the current international tribunals. The importance of the Rwanda national court in relation to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda also has great relevance for future decisions on persecution in such cases, and the reader welcomes elaboration of such issues. Of course, a discussion of the interesting political context and politically inspired legal discussions does not belong to this exclusively legal approach. In conclusion, the book by Professor Werle and his colleagues is most certainly of great use to international lawyers and researchers and deserves great credit for its methodical structure and systematic approach.