OUVRAGE : M.E. Badar, The Concept of Mens Rea in International Criminal Law: The Case for a Unified Approach

Kadidiatou HAMA

The purpose of this book is to find a unified approach to the doctrine of mens rea in the sphere of international criminal law, based on an in-depth comparative analysis of different legal systems and the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals since Nuremberg.

Part I examines the concept of mens rea in common and continental legal systems, as well as its counterpart in Islamic Shari'a law. Part II looks at the jurisprudence of the post-Second World War trials, the work of the International Law Commission and the concept of genocidal intent in light of the travaux préparatoires of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Further chapters are devoted to a discussion of the boundaries of mens rea in the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The final chapter examines the definition of the mental element as provided for in Article 30 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court in light of the recent decisions delivered by the International Criminal Court.

The study also examines the general principles that underlie the various approaches to the mental elements of crimes as well as the subjective element required in perpetration and participation in crimes and the interrelation between mistake of law and mistake of fact with the subjective element.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword, William A Schabas

1. Introduction

2. From Vengeance to Mens Rea to Mentes Reae

3. Mens Rea in the Common Law of England and Wales, Australia and Canada

4. Mens Rea in the American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code

5. Mens Rea in German and French Criminal Law

6. Mens Rea in Chinese and Russian Criminal Law

7. Mens Rea in Islamic Criminal Law

8. Mens Rea in post-World War II Trials, the Travaux Préparatoire of the Genocide Convention and the Work of the International Law

9. Mens Rea of Crimes in the Jurisprudence of the the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

10. The Mens Rea of Perpetration and Participation in the Jurisprudence  of the ICTY and ICTR

11. Mens Rea in the Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court

12. General Conclusions and Recommendations

Epilogue, Roger Clark

Mohamed Elewa Badar, The Concept of Mens Rea in International Criminal Law: The Case for a Unified Approach, Oxford, Hart Publishing (540 pp.)

From the Foreword by William Schabas
Mohamed Elewa Badar has taken this complex landscape of mens rea at the international level and prepared a thorough, well-structured monograph. This book is destined to become an indispensable tool for lawyers and judges at the international tribunals. 

From the Epilogue by Professor Roger Clark
This is the most comprehensive effort I have encountered pulling together across legal systems the 'general part' themes, especially about the 'mental element', found in confusing array in the common law, the civil law and Islamic law. In this endeavour, Dr Badar's researches have much to offer us.