Criminal Process and International Crime
Globalisation has over the past decades significantly changed the face of crime, while our legal instruments to deal with serious crime adapt very slowly. Legal subjects (including criminals) move unimpeded around the globe, but to a large degree states remain constrained in their ability to maintain law and order; they cannot act beyond their territory.
In today’s world, acts of severe crime can affect the social order, environment or economy far beyond the actual crime scene. As our knowledge of massive offences in places previously unheard of increases, states remain limited in their response to criminal behaviour that knows no boundaries.
Criminals exploit the judicial weaknesses of the state system to the full extent. Driven by a vocal demand for justice, prosecutors bring complex criminal cases with an international dimension to national courts. At the same time, global instruments like the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been created to adjudicate crimes against humanity.
In response to an urgent need for reflection on effective legal responses to international and transnational criminal acts, HiiL research seeks to generate coordinated procedural guidelines for adjudicating crimes with an international dimension. By taking part in the ICC’s Legal Tools project, HiiL makes a contribution to judiciaries and prosecutors of national, international as and hybrid courts, who would otherwise not have access to materials related to such cases.
Research Projects
See also
Contact information
Katarzyna Kryczka | Research and Programme Officer
+31 70 349 4406 | k.kryczka@hiil.org
'As a private lawyer by training, I was amazed by the enormous developments in the field of international criminal law over the past decades. Challenges and questions are abundant, but in HiiL projects, scientists are working hard together with judges and other professionals to develop ideas that address 21st-century issues. Contributing to a new area of law in the General Rules and Principles project goes hand in hand with our endeavour to set-up the most comprehensive online database of knowledge on international criminal law for the ICC’s Legal Tools project. Being a part of these international processes and witnessing the developments from our home base in The Hague - where many international justice institutions are based - is not just interesting from a professional point of view, but also hugely inspiring!' Katarzyna Kryczka