Claus Kreß and Stefan Barriga (eds), The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary

Abstract

A definition of the crime of aggression was reached at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Uganda in 2010.1 The ICC Statute has been the subject of many commentaries,2 the crime of aggression, which was left undefined during discussions in Rome,3 certainly deserved its own commentary. This book is written to fill this gap. Its uniqueness is, therefore, unquestionable since considered alone, the crime of aggression has been the subject of countless international law textbooks,4 many of which were authored by many of the contributors to this book. The editors, Claus Kreß and Stefan Barriga, in collaboration with leading scholars, produced what they describe as a ‘landmark’ commentary, ‘which will be the authoritative guide for all practitioners, scholars and simply those who wish to get the bottom of the provisions’ legal complexities’.5 This authority does not only lie in the fact that over 50 scholars contributed, the book has succeeded in bringing together those same experts who played an influential role in the drafting history of the crime of aggression. These experts were either members of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, which drafted the resolution amending the ICC Statute, or active negotiators and participants to the Review Conference. More than guidelines to interpreting the crime of aggression, this book provides a living account of the legislative history of one of the most challenging issues of international criminal law.