CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ THE CRIME OF AGGRESSION: A COMMENTARY some legal comments will be included. While I would like to comment on all contributions, the scope of this review does not allow it. This does not mean though that those not explicitly mentioned are less important. It is only for the sake of space preservation. Particularly useful even for those interested in the law of collective security rather than individual criminal responsibility is clarification of various terms used in the UN Charter, such as aggression, breach of the peace, threat to the peace, armed attack etc. and the relationship between them in light of the ICJ’s case law. These terms are repeatedly used and explained in detail, particularly in chapter 9 written by Larry May. Anyone who ever read the UN Charter for the first (or even later) time had to be confused with the various terms and no provision of explanations of them. I find the authors reasoning very convincing and think that the French authentic version could also add certain solutions (questions?) to his reasoning since it actually seems to use the terms of armed attack and act of aggression as synonyms (agression armée and acte d’agression). The book also deals with other general concepts, such as just war theory, political aspects of the crime of aggression, human rights and aggression, or deterrence. They are specifically discussed in part II of the first volume. As such it shows how interdisciplinary the crime of aggression is. No wonder (war of ) aggression was called the supreme crime. It could be said that the “supreme” aspect is not only related to its gravity but its social consequences as well – as part II points out. Part I of the book consists of 8 chapters covering the historical evolution from the Versailles Treaty until negotiations of the Rome Statute. Understanding of the history is vital in order to understand the Kampala definition in many ways. The crimes against peace play a crucial role. Though their practical life was essentially very short, as Kirsten Sellars pointed out in chapter 3, 4 crimes against peace retained their position as a tool to understand the crime of aggression. Further the process of defining aggression in the second half of the 20 th century is also described. These attempts were related mostly to state act responsibility but the state act forms half of the Kampala definition. The process was highly problematic and influenced by political and legal controversies. So one can only assume that legal interpretation troubles will also be related to the crime of aggression. If not more than to crimes against peace. The more it is necessary to understand its history, including the General Assembly’s resolution 3314’s annex on the definition of aggression. Thomas Bruha pays special attention to it and at the same time submits a very detailed insight into the political and legal debates preceding the adoption of the 3314 resolution in chapter 4. An example of the eternal struggle in the process of defining aggression (that more chapters pay attention to) is the interplay between rules contained in articles 2 and 5(1) of the 3314 General Assembly resolution in relation to the question whether any use of armed forces is a violation of the UN Charter or whether there are some legitimate exceptions (expect for the two already present in the Charter). And these debates remain opened until today, as the Kampala definition clearly shows. The book helps the reader to orientate oneself in history in a detailed way (on almost 300 pages) and so to understand presence as well. Since the crime of aggression is included into the Rome Statute, the statute’s interpretation will play an essential role in understanding the crime of aggression in the Kampala version.

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4 Page 118.