International Criminal Law is a branch of public international law that deals specifically with the rules and principles establishing international crimes and the institutional machinery for dealing with them. An ‘international crime’ is an ‘act universally recognised as criminal, which is considered a grave matter of international concern and for some valid reason cannot be left within the exclusive jurisdiction of the State that would have control over it under ordinary circumstances’ (US Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Hostages Trial, 1948). Students enrolled in this course will examine substantive and procedural international criminal law as well as broader notions of transitional justice and the effectiveness of post-conflict international criminal justice mechanisms. Topics include: the history and nature of international criminal law; international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression; modes of responsibility such as command responsibility and joint criminal enterprise; defences such as duress; international courts and tribunals such as the International Criminal Court and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia; selected procedures such as those relating to victim participation and reparations; and the rights of the accused.