In Beyond Imperfect Justice (Brill, 2022), Dr Talita Dias (Jesus College & ELAC, Oxford) explores how the principles of legality and fair labelling have developed in international criminal law, from Nuremberg to the International Criminal Court and beyond. It features a comprehensive survey of domestic and international case law, treaties, and other materials, carefully unpacking the different rationales and elements of each principle and the various rules to which they apply. The book invites readers to revisit landmark cases, such as those involving atrocities in the Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Darfur, Palestine and Ukraine, through a distinctive lens: the finding that all rules substantively affecting the human rights of the accused – from crimes and penalties to labels – must be sufficiently accessible and foreseeable to the ordinary person.

In this official launch event, Dr Dias will be joined by Professors Dapo Akande (Blavatnik School of Government), Devika Hovell (London School of Economics), Miles Jackson (Jesus College, Oxford) and Kevin Jon Heller (University of Copenhagen) for a discussion of the book’s key findings. These include the challenges of applying the principles of legality and fair labelling to international crimes, including those defined in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the implications of her findings for the ongoing ICC investigation into international crimes committed in Ukraine.

This event will also be livestreamed on our YouTube channel.