CYIL 2011

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW… country); 39 states have not reached a stage where they would transfer the exercise of their sovereignty to an international body. Naturally, neither would they want to transfer it to another State. However, through the adoption of ordinary multilateral treaties they have introduced different improved approaches for prosecuting individuals for serious crimes, some of which may under certain conditions achieve the status of an international crime, e.g. trafficking in human beings as a crime against humanity. 40 Accountability has been strengthened through the so-called quasi universal jurisdiction under the concept of aut dedere aut iudicare that is incorporated in the counter-terrorism conventions. 41 On the whole, the end of impunity has been the goal, while still maintaining the objective that State sovereignty and State consent should to continue to play an important role. IV. Conclusion This article has presented the indivisible impact on theoretical and practical issues of international law made by international criminal law. The basic impact of international criminal law on international law was argued in the area of covering, detailing and subsequent harmonising aspects of international law in relation to responsibility at the international level. Such a development has included the introduction of the individual as a partial subject of international law. On the other hand, it has not changed the position of a State, since the State is still the primary subject in the Westphalian system of international law. However, the whole development towards ending impunity has changed the State-oriented approach to an individual-oriented approach. As has been submitted during the Toronto Conference of the International Law Association in 2006, the process of humanisation of international law has been strengthened since World War II. Humanisation is not perceived as a process of making international law more humane but as a process where the individual has come to occupy a position at the centre of international law, as the r aison d’être of State activities. Constructivists would point out the importance of shared values, especially the values of humanity and human dignity. However, one cannot forget that it is still the States that make law on the international level and that although there are ius cogens norms, they have to be recognised and accepted by the international community of States. Nevertheless, the role of individuals cannot be undermined especially in relation to the representatives that act on behalf of a State and in relation to civil society, a concept that has played an important role in the development of international criminal law. As for the future possible development, two examples are provided here. The first one concerns the development of the international criminal responsibility of corporations as this concept has already been presented in several national legal systems. 39 Mueller, G. in Williams, P., Vlassis, D. (ed.): Combating Transnational Crime: Concepts, Activities and Responses. London: Frank Cass Publishers 2001. 40 Art. 7 (2c) of the Rome Statute. 41 See Bates, E.S.: Terrorism and International Law. Accountability, Remedies, and Reform . A Report of the International Bar Association Task Force on Terrorism. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011, p. 174.

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