The Origins of International Criminal Law: Its Connection to and Convergence with other Branches of International Law

Abstract

International law in its infancy is deemed by many to have failed in providing protections to individuals before 1945. However, it did provide such protections more than a hundred years ago, when international protection for individuals and groups was found not only in international humanitarian law, but also in other branches of international law. Human rights protection was provided in areas as diverse as minorities, slavery and piracy. For instance, humanitarian intervention took place where human rights violations were occurring against minorities within other states during the 1800s. These issues are important, particularly for those who seek remedies for events that occurred before 1945, and want to rely on international law in their claims. This article examines when international law, specifi cally as international criminal law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law came into being, and when the protections accorded by them against various types of conduct, became available. It is submitted that by the turn of the twentieth century many of these laws were already available and in force. While it is commonly held that international protections against human rights violations were activated in the post-World War II era, they actually were accessible much earlier. There were indeed measures protecting minorities, protecting people against slavery and the slave trade and protecting people against certain types of warfare long before the 1940s. In fact, international law originated long before the 1800s, with various authors noting that international law dates back to times before the Peace