Summary
Report of the International Law Association
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Extract
General Rules of Criminal Law.
In discussions of the problems connected with the establishment of an international criminal court, attention has naturally turned to the question of the nature of the law to be applied by the proposed court.
In Europe, down through the eighteenth century, criminal as well as civil law was largely based on a common law (ius commune) that transcended national boundaries.(1) The situation is described in scathing terms in the opening line of the preface to Beccaria's essay On Crimes and Punishments: A few remnants of the legislation of a former conquering people compiled by a prince who reigned at Constantinople twelve centuries ago, afterwards mixed up with the customs of the Lombards, and buried in a voluminous muddle of obscure commentaries -- these comprise the hotch-potch of opinions to which a large part of Europe has given the name of law; and thus, even today, it is as deplorable as it is common that ...See the full content of this document
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